Senate committee discusses firing squad bill for Indiana death row

The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee discussed a bill Tuesday that would allow execution by firing squad of inmates on death row, including testimony from four people opposed to the bill.

Senate Bill 11, introduced by State Sen. Michael Young, would authorize executions by firing squad if drugs for lethal injection cannot be obtained or if the inmate chooses death by firing squad at least 30 days before the scheduled execution date.

The firing squad would consist of five Department of Corrections officers selected by the warden. The identities of members of the firing squad would remain confidential and could not be discovered in civil or criminal proceedings, according to the bill.

At the time of execution, four members will have rifles with live ammunition and one member will have a rifle with live ammunition. The guns would be loaded without members knowing who owns what type of ammunition, according to the bill.

Young, R-Indianapolis, testified before the committee Tuesday that it could cost as much as $300,000 per dose of pentobarbital, which is used to make a lethal injection, and that it often expires before it is used.

The federal government carries out death executions at the Terre Haute prison, Young said, and it is limited by Indiana’s execution laws, Young said.

“The federal government has to be able to have a way to enforce a lawful court order and if they can’t get the chemical or it’s not there, they can’t do it, and they have to have another method,” Young said.

Young said he was open to amendments to the bill, including an “up to” clause on the number of officers to be shot and allowing officers to choose whether or not to be shot.

“If I was a principal, I would probably hire volunteers. I wouldn’t force someone to take someone else’s life,” Young said.

In 2024, Indiana resumed executions after a nearly 15-year hiatus because pharmaceutical companies were reluctant to sell the execution drugs amid growing public scrutiny, said Jody Madeira, a professor at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law.

Three Indiana death row inmates – Joseph Corcoran, Benjamin Ritchie and Roy Lee Ward – were executed last year.

Gov. Mike Braun revealed in June that Indiana officials spent $1.175 million on lethal injection doses over the past year, including $600,000 on drugs that expired before use. The cost is between $275,000 and $300,000 per dose, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.

The firing squad method of execution is constitutional, but it will likely remain controversial, Madeira said.

Currently, five states allow executions by firing squad: Utah, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Idaho and South Carolina, Madeira said. Idaho’s firing squad law will take effect in 2026, Madeira said.

States approach execution by firing squad in one of two ways: by indicating a preference in order of execution method, such as lethal injection first and the firing squad method last, as in Oklahoma, or by allowing inmates to choose an execution method, which includes the firing squad, as in South Carolina, Madeira said.

In March, Brad Sigmon, a South Carolina man who killed his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat, was executed by firing squad. He was the first American prisoner in 15 years to die by firing squad, which Sigmon chose over lethal injection.

Since then, South Carolina has executed two other inmates – Mikal Mahdi and Stephen Bryant – by firing squad. In all three executions, the men had targets placed on their hearts and three prison employees fired shots.

In Indiana, state Sen. Liz Brown, a Fort Wayne Republican, said she fears execution by firing squad could become the norm because of the high cost of lethal injection drugs. Brown further advocated for a study into why lethal injection drugs are so expensive.

Young said the bill specifies that if lethal injection drugs are not available, then the firing squad can be used, or an inmate can choose to be executed by firing squad.

State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton, asked Young if he was concerned about shooting someone who didn’t die immediately after being shot, “and you’re witnessing what could potentially be cruel and unusual punishment,” which could open the state to lawsuits.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that execution by firing squad was not inhumane, Young said.

Four people testified against the bill before the committee Tuesday.

Zack Stock, legislative counsel for the Indiana Public Defender Council, said the organization opposes Senate Bill 11 because it is “a solution in search of a problem.”

While those who support death by firing squad discuss the cost of lethal injectable drugs, the difficulty of obtaining the drug and the need for the federal government, “they don’t hold water,” Stock said.

In 2025, 47 death row inmates were executed in the United States, Stock said, with more than 80 percent of those deaths by lethal injection. In Indiana, there are five people on death row, with one deemed incompetent to stand trial.

“We don’t need large quantities of drugs right now, and it’s unlikely we will need them in the future,” Stock said.

Federally, there are three inmates on death row in Indiana, Stock said, and the federal government could build an execution room in a state that allows it and transfer the Indiana inmates there. The bill appears to respond to a request from the White House, he said.

“Indiana does not need to permanently change its enforcement laws to meet a federal request that could change with the next administration,” Stock said.

Samantha Bresnahan of the ACLU Indiana said the organization opposes the bill because it promotes more secrecy around how death executions are carried out.

With broad language about protecting members of the firing squad, Bresnahan said the state could argue against disclosing training methods, qualifications and possible safeguards.

“This is precisely the information the public needs to evaluate whether the process is legal, competent and free from misconduct,” Bresnahan said. “This bill asks this legislature to do something extreme: expand the mechanism of capital punishment, then hide how it works. »

Robert Dunham, former executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said he opposed the bill because it would allow more secrecy around death penalty executions.

In Mikal Mahdi’s death in South Carolina, an autopsy report found that Mahdi was shot in the pancreas, liver and lower lung, Dunham said. Mahdi was cremated before an independent autopsy could be performed, he said.

Additionally, Dunham said there “is no pressing federal need” to execute death row inmates, unless someone believes the conspiracy that former President Joe Biden used an automatic override to commute the sentences of death row inmates.

“It’s a solution in search of a problem,” Dunham said.

Roarke LaCoursiere of the Indiana Catholic Conference said the organization opposes the bill because while its members stand with victims and their families, the death penalty does not bring justice.

“We believe that returning to something as horrific as a firing squad only highlights the brutality and savagery of the death penalty itself, and legalizing the firing squad method would be a step in the wrong direction in Indiana’s efforts to build a culture of life,” LaCoursière said.

In closing, Young said it was important that information about members of the firing squad remain private in order to avoid public harassment. Ultimately, Young said those who oppose the bill want to take the choice away from the inmate.

“I’m just saying, let the prisoner decide how he prefers the execution to take place. If he agrees, so do I,” Young said.

The committee will file amendments to the bill by the end of the week and will discuss the bill further next week.

akukulka@post-trib.com