On Thursday, March 26, Gov. Brad Little signed into effect a bill that will ban the publishing or release of all photos displaying the deceased by government agencies in Idaho. Senate Bill 1250 will be enforced statewide, with the bill being passed in an effort to provide courtesy to the families of the deceased.
It will pertain to all images containing dead bodies, regardless of the cause of death. The only people who will be able to request access to those images will be the families of the deceased.
SB1250 was introduced on Feb. 3 by Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, but was championed by another.
Alivea Goncalves, the sister of one of the 2022 University of Idaho Kings Road killings victims, Kaylee Goncalves, was a main proponent of the bill and its efforts.
In a TikTok video she recently released, Goncalves explained the trauma that incurred when documents and photos pertaining to the crime came out publicly after the sentence of Brian Kohberger in summer of 2025.
“When the first scene photos released, they were everywhere all at once. Within an hour they were unavoidable,” Goncalves said. “The internet has fundamentally changed the consequences of releasing sensitive materials, especially images of bodies.”
She went on to describe continuous pain the families of the victims endured, when, on July 23, 2025, the Moscow Police Departmentreleased 578 pages of new documents describing the graphic nature of the scene in more detail.
Then again, on January 20, 2026, nearly 3,000 previously unreleased photos were published accidentally by Idaho State Police. According to an article by Fox News, the incident caused outrage amongst the families of the victims.
In a Facebook post made by Little the day SB1250 was signed, he offered his support for families who have been hurt in the past, and his hopes for a better future.
“I commend the many champions of this bill, including Alivea Goncalves. This change will help protect grieving families from the additional pain of having sensitive photos released that should remain private,” Little wrote.
The bill, which was voted upon unanimously by the Senate, will go into effect on July 1.
Paige Wilton can be reached at [email protected].