Idaho starts remodel for the firing squad chamber. Here’s what it’ll cost

Idaho will spend more than $900,000 to renovate its execution chamber to accommodate a firing squad as its lead method, state prison officials told the Idaho Statesman.

The Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) announced in late May its plans to begin construction on a remodel project without detailing the cost. This decision aligns with a July 2026 deadline set by a legislative bill passed in March, which prioritizes the firing squad as the primary execution method. Governor Brad Little signed this bill into law, building upon a 2023 law he approved that established the firing squad as a backup to lethal injection and allocated $750,000 for construction. No new funds were included in the latest legislation, as the IDOC is expected to cover the cost difference through other budget savings.

The estimated cost of the project is $911,000, which is about $42,000 less than a previous estimate from last year. Officials noted that the higher prior estimate would have allowed for expedited construction, completing the project in three to four months. However, the IDOC now anticipates the project, overseen by the Idaho Division of Public Works, will take between six and nine months. This construction effectively takes the execution chamber offline, including for lethal injections, leading the state prison system to pause all possible executions until early 2026. This pause also addresses a federal injunction against carrying out the death penalty until changes are made to the room where lethal injection drugs are prepared and administered. IDOC spokesperson Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic stated she was unaware of the reasons behind the approval of the longer construction timeline.

The expense to this is getting to be considerable. You can build a gorgeous, gorgeous mansion for $1 million, and I don’t know why a firing squad facility is costing so much.

The injunction, which was ruled in favor of in April, resulted from a lawsuit filed by three news outlets, including the Statesman, seeking improved witness access to executions based on First Amendment grounds. The Attorney General’s Office, representing the IDOC, has appealed this decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. When Idaho’s new law takes effect next year, it will make the state the only one in the U.S. to use a firing squad as its main execution method. While four other states—Utah, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Mississippi—also have the firing squad as an option, none use it as their primary method. Notably, South Carolina upgraded its execution chamber in 2022 to include a firing squad at a cost of $54,000 and has executed two prisoners by this method this year, marking the first use of the firing squad in the U.S. in nearly 15 years.

Idaho's estimated construction cost has drawn criticism from lawmakers opposed to the new law. Representative John Gannon, D-Boise, expressed concern during the bill’s debate, stating, "The expense to this is getting to be considerable. You can build a gorgeous, gorgeous mansion for $1 million, and I don’t know why a firing squad facility is costing so much." The push for this legislative change came after Idaho’s first-ever failure to execute a prisoner in February 2024. Prison officials attempted to execute Thomas Creech, the state’s longest-serving death row inmate, but were unable to find a suitable vein for a lethal injection IV. Creech, now 74, remains in legal limbo on death row. Eight other individuals convicted of murder, including one woman, constitute the rest of Idaho’s death row population.

Source: idahostatesman.com, Kevin Fixler, June 2, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

Tennessee executes Harold Wayne Nichols

Thirty-seven years after confessing to a series of rapes and the murder of Karen Pulley, Nichols expressed remorse in final words Strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday morning, Harold Wayne Nichols made a final statement. “To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry,” he said, according to prison officials and media witnesses. “To my family, know that I love you. I know where I’m going to. I’m ready to go home.”

China | Former Chinese senior banker Bai Tianhui executed for taking US$155 million in bribes

Bai is the second senior figure from Huarong to be put to death for corruption following the execution of Lai Xiaomin in 2021 China has executed a former senior banker who was found guilty of taking more than 1.1 billion yuan (US$155 million) in bribes. Bai Tianhui, the former general manager of the asset management firm China Huarong International Holdings, was executed on Tuesday after the Supreme People’s Court approved the sentence, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Iran | Child Bride Saved from the Gallows After Blood Money Raised Through Donations, Charities

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 9, 2025: Goli Kouhkan, a 25-year-old undocumented Baluch child bride who was scheduled to be executed within weeks, has been saved from the gallows after the diya (blood money) was raised in time. According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency , the plaintiffs in the case of Goli Kouhkan, have agreed to forgo their right to execution as retribution. In a video, the victim’s parents are seen signing the relevant documents. Goli’s lawyer, Parand Gharahdaghi, confirmed in a social media post that the original 10 billion (approx. 100,000 euros) toman diya was reduced to 8 billion tomans (approx. 80,000 euros) and had been raised through donations and charities.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Who Gets Hanged in Singapore?

Singapore’s death penalty has been in the news again. Enshrined in law in 1975, a decade after the island split from Malaysia and became an independent state, the penalty can see people sentenced to hang for drug trafficking, murder or firearms offenses, among other crimes. Executions have often involved trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with offenses measured in grams. Those executed have included people from low-income backgrounds and foreign nationals who are sometimes not fluent in English, according to human rights advocates such as Amnesty International and the International Drug Policy Consortium.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

USA | Should Medical Research Regulations and Informed Consent Principles Apply to States’ Use of Experimental Execution Methods?

New drugs and medical treatments undergo rigorous testing to ensure they are safe and effective for public use. Under federal and state regulations, this testing typically involves clinical trials with human subjects, who face significant health and safety risks as the first people exposed to experimental treatments. That is why the law requires them to be fully informed of the potential effects and give their voluntary consent to participate in trials. Yet these regulations have not been followed when states seek to use novel and untested execution methods — subjecting prisoners to potentially torturous and unconstitutionally painful deaths. Some experts and advocates argue that states must be bound by the ethical and human rights principles of biomedical research before using these methods on prisoners.

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog