Idaho Code
Idaho Code § 19-2705 (2026)
Death sentence or death warrant and confinement thereunder — Access to condemned person.
✓ current as of May 2026
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Death sentence or death warrant and confinement thereunder — Access to condemned person.
(1) Whenever a person is sentenced to death, the judge passing sentence shall, in accordance with section 19-2719, Idaho Code, sign and file a death warrant fixing a date of execution not more than thirty (30) days thereafter.
(2) The warrant shall be directed to the director of the Idaho department of correction and shall be delivered to him forthwith.
(3) Whenever a person is under death warrant, execution of which has not been stayed, the warden of the prison in which the person is incarcerated shall keep the condemned person in solitary confinement until execution. No person shall be allowed access to the condemned person except law enforcement personnel investigating matters within the scope of their duties, the attorney of record, attending physicians, a spiritual adviser of the condemned’s choosing, and members of the immediate family of the condemned, and then only in accordance with prison rules. Persons under death warrant will be allowed contact visits with their attorneys of record and the agents of their attorneys of record. Such visits will take place subject to prison rules. No other contact visits shall be permitted. Prison officials have authority to suspend or deny visits when the safe, secure and orderly operation of the facility or public safety could be compromised.
(4) For purposes of this section a "contact visit" is defined as a meeting between a condemned person and another person during which the parties are not separated by a screen or other partition which prohibits physical contact. Contact visits with attorneys of record or agents of the attorneys of record will take place in a private, confidential setting where the prisoner and his attorney are in the same room.
(5) For the purposes of this section, "agents of the attorneys of record" means employees of the attorneys of record including investigators, paralegals, legal interns and mitigation specialists but does not include retained experts or other independent contractors of the attorneys of record.
(6) For the purposes of this section, "legal intern" means a qualified law student or recent law school graduate who, upon application and approval by the Idaho state bar association, is granted a limited license to engage in the practice of law.
(7) No person shall be allowed access to the condemned person under death warrant except law enforcement personnel investigating matters within the scope of their duties, the condemned person’s attorneys of record, the agents of the condemned person’s attorneys of record, attending physicians, spiritual advisers of the condemned person’s choosing and approved visitors.
(8) When a person has been sentenced to death, but the death warrant has been stayed, contact visits between the condemned person and persons other than his attorneys of record and the agents of the attorneys of record may be allowed at the discretion of prison officials.
(9) All visits, contact or noncontact, with a condemned person, whether such person is under sentence of death or death warrant, shall take place only in accordance with prison rules. Prison officials shall have the authority to suspend or deny such visits when public safety or the safe, secure and orderly operation of the prison could be compromised.
(10) In the seven (7) days immediately preceding the scheduled execution of a condemned person, the condemned person may have contact visits with spiritual advisers of the condemned person’s choosing and members of the condemned person’s family, in addition to the attorneys of record and the agents of the attorneys of record.
(11) When a person has been sentenced to death, but the death warrant has been stayed, the warden is not required to hold such person in solitary confinement or to restrict access to him until the stay of the death warrant is lifted or a new death warrant is issued by the sentencing court; provided however, no condemned person shall be housed in less than maximum security confinement, and provided further that nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the warden’s discretion to house such person under conditions more restrictive if necessary to ensure public safety or the safe, secure and orderly operation of the facility.
(12) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a liberty interest in the condemned person or to expand the right of access to courts under state or federal law.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9
cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1937–2023 · leading case: State v. Creech, 670 P.2d 463 (Idaho 1983).
State v. Creech, 670 P.2d 463 (Idaho 1983). “In the event that said shall impose a sentence of death, a warrant therefor shall issue in accordance with I.C. § 19-2705; and "IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that on the completion of said proceedings a transcript thereof shall be immediately prepared, delivered and lodged with this…”
Sivak v. State, 731 P.2d 192 (Idaho 1986). “In the event that said Judge shall impose a sentence of death, a warrant therefor shall issue in accordance with I.C. § 19-2705; ..." When we ordered resentencing we did not require the district court to consider additional information which may be relevant to the mitigation of…”
State v. Aragon, 690 P.2d 293 (Idaho 1984). “IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the issuance of a DEATH WARRANT by the district court shall be done in accordance with I.C. §§ 19-2705 and 19-2715 as amended by Chapter 159 of the 1984 Session Laws.”
State v. Pontier, 645 P.2d 325 (Idaho 1982). “Doubtless, the same facile argument could be made as to the execution of an unserved death warrant, which most minds (including legal) would believe should be delivered to the warden prior to the warden's taking the life of the prisoner, as I.C. § 19-2705 seems to read. It is…”
Pizzuto v. IDOC, 508 P.3d 293 (Idaho 2022). “The SOP cites several sources of law that the Department must comply with when carrying out executions, including “the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Idaho and Idaho law, specifically Idaho Code sections 19-2705, 19-2713, 19-2714, 19- 2715,…”
Dunlap v. I.M.S.I. (D. Idaho 2022). “) In particular, Idaho Code § 19-2705 (11) provides: When a person has been sentenced to death, but the death warrant has been stayed, the warden is not required to hold such person in solitary confinement or to restrict access to him until the stay of the death warrant is…”
Pizzuto v. Tewalt (D. Idaho 2023). “Pursuant to Idaho Code § 19-2705 (3), when the warrant issued, the IMSI Warden moved Pizzuto from his cell in J-Block to solitary confinement in the Execution Unit, located in a separate building.”
State v. Howard, 65 P.2d 764 (Idaho 1937). “Section 19-2705 provides: “An appeal from a judgment must be taken within ninety days after its rendition, and from an order, within sixty days after it is made.”
Dunlap v. I.M.S.I. (D. Idaho 2021). “Idaho Code § 19-2705 (11) provides: When a person has been sentenced to death, but the death warrant has been stayed, the warden is not required to hold such person in solitary confinement or to restrict access to him until the stay of the death warrant is lifted or a new death…”
— Idaho Code § 19-2705(11) — 1 case
Dunlap v. I.M.S.I. (D. Idaho 2022). “) In particular, Idaho Code § 19-2705 (11) provides: When a person has been sentenced to death, but the death warrant has been stayed, the warden is not required to hold such person in solitary confinement or to restrict access to him until the stay of the death warrant is…”
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