2026 - HB 803 - Removing Court Review of Idaho Execution Procedures

House Bill 803 would allow the Director of the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) to determine execution procedures, a provision already in Code, but would expand this authority substantially by exempting IDOC's execution protocol from judicial review (via state courts) under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) oversight via rulemaking.

APA review sets only a minimal standard for government agencies; it simply asks whether a policy is reasonable and not arbitrary. Eliminating even this modest oversight is particularly troubling given IDOC’s recent record. In the past several years, the department has made a series of serious execution-related mistakes.

Idaho is among the few states to botch an execution so badly that the prisoner survived; it has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lethal injection drugs that were later discarded after expiring; and it stored execution chemicals improperly by refrigerating substances meant to remain at room temperature.