BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Governor Brad Little has signed a bill that revises the methods of capital punishment in Idaho to make a firing squad the primary method of execution.
House Bill 37, which changes Idaho's procedures for carrying out the death penalty, makes Idaho the only state in the U.S. to use a firing squad as the primary execution method.
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Under the new law, the director of the Department of Correction will need to certify within five days of a death warrant whether execution by firing squad is available. If certified, the firing squad will be the primary method. If lethal injection is available instead, it will become the default method.
The new procedures apply to all executions carried out on or after July 1, 2026, regardless of when the sentence was imposed.
