Idaho
What to know about Idaho’s death penalty after Chad Daybell was sentenced to death
(CNN) — Chad Daybell was sentenced to death for the murders of his wife and two of his second wife’s children this weekend, but when and whether he will be executed remain wide-open questions.
It’s typical for the appeals process in capital cases to go on for years, and they often reach the US Supreme Court before an inmate is ultimately put to death. In Idaho, the imposition of a death sentence is followed by a mandatory post-conviction review, and defendants are able to pursue an appeal after the filing of a death warrant.
Click here for complete coverage of the Chad Daybell trial
In the meantime, the high-profile nature of Daybell’s case – and the looming capital trial of Bryan Kohberger, who’s pleaded not guilty in the killings of four University of Idaho college students – will bring renewed attention to Idaho’s death penalty, which is seldom used and attracted headlines earlier this year when officials halted their first execution attempt in more than a decade.
Here’s what to know about the death penalty in Idaho.
Executions are uncommon
Executions are relatively rare in Idaho, which, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, has carried out just three executions since 1976, when the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment. The first was in 1994, followed by two others in 2011 and 2012.
To put this in context, Texas has put to death 580 inmates within the timeframe, DPIC’s data show – by far the most of any state. And Oklahoma, which has carried out the highest number of executions per capita, has executed 124.
Only a handful of the 27 states where the death penalty remains legal have carried out as few executions as Idaho: Kentucky, Montana and Pennsylvania have also each put to death three people since 1976. Kansas, Wyoming and Oregon have executed even fewer, with zero, one and two executions, respectively.
Additionally, Idaho’s death row housed just eight inmates prior to Daybell’s sentence, according to the Idaho Department of Corrections. California – which, it should be noted, has a population more than 21 times the size of Idaho – has 638 condemned inmates, nearly 80 times the size of Idaho’s death row.
Officials recently halted an execution
Idaho officials attempted to carry out the state’s first execution in 12 years several months ago. But they were forced to abort midway through the procedure, citing difficulties setting an intravenous line to deliver the fatal drugs for lethal injection.
That echoed difficulties seen in executions in other states, including Alabama. Officials there similarly had to call off two executions in 2022 after authorities were unable to access the inmates’ veins before their death warrants expired.
The Idaho State prison complex near Kuna is shown on February 28, the day officials halted the execution of Thomas Creech after they failed to find a vein to establish an IV line to carry out the lethal injection. (Kyle Green, AP)
The execution of Thomas Creech, scheduled in Idaho for February 28, was “unable to proceed” after eight failed attempts to establish IV access, state Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt said at the time. The execution team encountered two different issues, Tewalt said at a news conference: In some instances it was “an access issue,” and in others a “vein quality issue.”
Tewalt praised the medical team’s willingness to halt the execution, telling reporters the state’s “first objective is to carry this out with dignity, professionalism and respect,” and he disputed the suggestion the execution was a “failure.” The department said in a statement Creech’s warrant would expire while the state considered next steps.
2 execution methods, both with challenges
The decision to call off Creech’s execution also raised questions about when and how the state would endeavor to put an inmate to death in the future.
Tewalt told reporters a second attempt using lethal injection – Idaho’s main method of execution – would require the state to seek out new chemicals.
While he expressed “a high level of confidence” the state could secure the drugs, a number of states have struggled in recent years to obtain them after pharmaceutical companies began prohibiting the use of their products for that purpose. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, for example, has repeatedly postponed executions citing companies’ unwillingness to sell the drugs necessary.
Idaho recently legalized a second method of execution, with an aim toward sidestepping this kind of supply problem. Last year, Gov. Brad Little signed a new law allowing the Department of Corrections to use the firing squad if the drugs are not available.
But as of late February, the state lacked the facilities it needed to carry out an execution by firing squad, Tewalt said. In a message to corrections staff, the director said his department had been working to retrofit its execution chamber to accommodate the alternative method.
“Those initial efforts were unsuccessful because contractors who would engage in this type of work have expressed their unwillingness to work on a project related to executions,” Tewalt said, “but efforts are ongoing.”
The director added construction on the execution chamber would prevent the state from being able to use it – even for lethal injection – until the work is completed.
Rapid population growth is reshaping Idaho’s politics and creating new tensions across the state, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane said Wednesday to the Boise business community.
“If there’s anything to reflect on, it’s just how much Idaho is changing, the rate of growth that we are seeing, and the rate of growth we’re going to continue to see,” McGrane said at an event hosted by the Boise Metro Chamber.
According to data by the U.S. Census Bureau, Idaho had the second-highest population growth in 2025, which was the largest nationwide in the past five years. With a 10.4% increase comes people from all walks of life.
McGrane pointed to Boise’s evolving skyline and with that comes new business. Idaho business filings have increased from 425,000 in 2020 to roughly 650,000 in 2025 — a 50% increase.
But it isn’t just the economy driving these newcomers. Natural disasters and people exhausted from their home state’s politics are also a force.
Look no further than California: the largest group of migrants to Idaho. McGrane noted that northern Idaho farmers picture them as “blue-haired hippies from the Bay Area.” In fact, it’s the exact opposite.
Seventy-seven percent of Californians moving to the Gem State are registered Republicans.
“When you see the fires in LA, what I see is people moving to Idaho,” McGrane said. “Your home burned down, you’re probably not going to build it where you’ve just burned down, you’re going to find someplace else to move.”
It isn’t just California refugees contributing to the significant increase in Idaho’s Republican makeup. Migrants from all across the country are sharing similar sentiments, highlighting the 58% to 62% increase of registered Republicans since McGrane first took office in 2023.
Migration patterns are creating more of a divide within the Republican Party of Idaho, he said. Multi-generational Idahoans are concerned with agriculture and water rights, while newer residents are fixated on social and policy debates.
Voter turnout has been an issue nationwide, spilling into the Gem State. According to data from Idaho.gov, about 73% of its voting-age population is registered to vote. That means over a quarter of Idahoans who are eligible to vote aren’t registered.
To emphasize the importance of voter participation, McGrane pointed to a phrase often expressed by Gov. Brad Little: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”
Just 12% of Idaho’s voting-age population participated in the primary election to select a party nominee for governor. That figure underscores how primaries carry lots of weight in Idaho.
“The overwhelming majority of decisions were just made on the May 19 election,” McGrane said.
Consequences of low voter turnout are often visible in tight-knit elections, he added. In 2020, there was a race for the Ada County Highway District commission, featuring Rebecca Arnold vs. Alexis Pickering.
The contest ultimately came down to two votes out of roughly 40,000 ballots cast. Around 10,000 voters skipped the race entirely, which illustrates how a small number of ballots can determine elections.
McGrane said those dynamics will continue shaping the fast-growing state’s political sphere.
“One of the biggest decisions that we have as a state is just who gets engaged, who participates and who votes in our elections,” McGrane said.
The Idaho State Police say that Robert Giesick, 40, from Billings is the man missing in a crash on State Highway 55 near Cascade, about 80 miles north of Boise.
A pick-up truck driven by Giesick ended up in the Payette River after a head-on crash with another pick-up truck.
Watch Idaho crash story here:
Idaho state troopers identify Billings man missing in traffic accident
“I was able to find some people that saw a male, an adult man, swimming for the shore from the truck,” said Idaho State Trooper Richard Knapp, who attempted to rescue Giesick. “Unfortunately he didn’t make it. He got swept downriver. Witnesses lost sight of him, and that was the last time anybody saw him.”
Knapp says search crews looked extensively for the 40-year-old, but after 24 hours, it became a recovery effort for the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit.
After that on Monday came the monumental task of removing the pickup truck from the raging water.
“It was an intensive a recovery, honestly, our operators were tested, their knowledge was tested,” said Mark Boisvert, Code Red Towing owner. “They said it was a very extreme recovery for them, more than usual.”
Idaho business owners have less than a month to decide how to comply with a new state law criminally banning trans people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity.
The law is set to take effect July 1, which would make it a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for subsequent offenses within five years.
It’s currently being challenged in federal court by the ACLU of Idaho.
On Tuesday, a panel sponsored by Idaho Employment Lawyers encouraged companies to prepare now as if the law will remain in effect as litigation continues.
Cody Earl, a lawyer for St. Luke’s Health System who spoke on the panel in his personal capacity, said there are several paths businesses can take.
Converting all bathrooms into single-use, gender-neutral facilities is one option, though it could be costly for larger businesses. Earl said companies could take other steps to make the transition more affordable.
“Even if it is a gender-specific restroom, [adding signage] that indicates where the closest gender-neutral restroom is so you could at least show that you’re giving employees an option or a choice,” he said.
Simply adding locks and only allowing one person at a time to a multi-stall bathroom is another choice, though panelists said that could be problematic for businesses with large amounts of customers, like restaurants and bars.
Idaho Employment Lawyers owner Pam Howland said companies also need to consider how this will affect their staff.
“This could definitely create some culture issues,” said Howland. “Do you have the policies you need to ensure your expectations as an employer of respect and civility are being followed? Possibly code of conduct provisions related to that? How about privacy?”
Those policies could include limiting or outright banning recording at the workplace.
Another legal wrinkle to complying with the law, the panel said, is that precedent in both the U.S. Supreme Court and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals prohibit discrimination based on someone’s gender identity.
Gender dysphoria, a mental health designation that causes severe distress to someone when their sex doesn’t align with their gender identity, has been considered a protected condition under the Americans with Disabilities Act in certain cases.
Republican state lawmakers argued earlier this year that Idaho needs to take this first-in-the-nation step to protect women and girls when they use the restroom in private businesses.
A 2025 study out of UCLA hasn’t found any increased risk to safety by allowing transgender people to use restrooms aligning with their gender identity.
A federal court in Boise will hear arguments over whether to approve or reject a preliminary injunction on June 5.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
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