Bill Description: House Bill 803 would say the Idaho Department of Correction Director’s determinations regarding execution procedures are not subject to the provisions of the Idaho Administrative Procedure Act. 

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NOTE: House Bill 803 is similar to House Bill 525 (2026). 

Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

Section 19-2716, Idaho Code, says the Director of the Idaho Department of Correction shall determine the procedures to be used in any execution. House Bill 803 would add to this power that “such procedures shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code.” This chapter is the Idaho Administrative Procedure Act, which, among other things, specifies how agencies promulgate rules. 

This change could reduce legislative oversight and public transparency of execution procedures, but it also clarifies that the Director bears sole responsibility for this task.  

The bill would also amend Section 19-2716A, Idaho Code, to expand the list of participants in the execution process whose identities “shall be confidential, shall not be subject to disclosure, and shall not be admissible as evidence or discoverable in any proceeding before any court, tribunal, board, agency, or person” to include “emergency medical personnel,” any member of the firing squad, “and any person or entity that provides technical assistance during the execution process.”

Shielding these identities from public disclosure could reduce the risk of lawfare or other forms of retaliation, but extending that secrecy even to a court investigating allegations of negligence, maleficence, or other criminality could create a barrier to justice. 

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