(INDIANAPOLIS) - An Indiana state senator is preparing to introduce a bill that would allow executions by firing squad under certain conditions.
WPTA-TV reports that Senate Bill 11--authored by Senator Michael Young--will get its first reading Monday before moving to the Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law. The proposal would take effect July 1, 2026. Indiana has carried out three executions since resuming capital punishment in 2024, including the October lethal injection of Roy Lee Ward. Under the bill, a firing squad could be used if the Department of Correction determines at least 30 days before an execution that it cannot obtain the drugs needed for lethal injection. Death row inmates could also request a firing squad as their method of execution.
The squad would consist of five DOC officers chosen by the prison warden--four firing live rounds and one firing a blank. The identities of squad members would remain confidential. Five inmates currently remain on Indiana's death row.