S.B. No. 1071
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to requiring notice of the scheduling of an execution date
  and the issuance of a warrant of execution.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 43.141, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) and amending
  Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (b-1)  Not later than the second business day after the date
  on which the convicting court enters an order setting the execution
  date, a copy of the order must be sent by first-class mail, e-mail,
  or fax to:
               (1)  the attorney who represented the condemned person
  in the most recently concluded stage of a state or federal
  postconviction proceeding; and
               (2)  the office of capital writs established under
  Subchapter B, Chapter 78, Government Code.
         (b-2)  The exclusive remedy for a failure to comply with
  Subsection (b-1) is the resetting of the execution date under this
  article. 
         (c)  An [The first] execution date may not be earlier than
  the 91st day after the date the convicting court enters the order
  setting the execution date. [A subsequent execution date may not be
  earlier than the 31st day after the date the convicting court enters
  the order setting the execution date.]
         SECTION 2.  Article 43.15, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Art. 43.15.  WARRANT OF EXECUTION. (a)  Whenever any person
  is sentenced to death, the clerk of the court in which the sentence
  is pronounced[,] shall, not later than the 10th day [within ten
  days] after the court enters its order setting the date for
  execution, issue a warrant under the seal of the court for the
  execution of the sentence of death, which shall recite the fact of
  conviction, setting forth specifically the offense, the judgment of
  the court, and the time fixed for the [his] execution, and which
  shall be directed to the director of the correctional institutions
  division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice [Director of
  the Department of Corrections] at Huntsville, Texas, commanding the
  director [him] to proceed, at the time and place named in the order
  of execution, to carry the same into execution, as provided in [the
  preceding] Article 43.14, and shall deliver such warrant to the
  sheriff of the county in which such judgment of conviction was had,
  to be [by him] delivered by the sheriff to the director [said
  Director of the Department of Corrections], together with the
  condemned person if the person [he] has not previously been so
  delivered.
         (b)  At the time the warrant is issued under Subsection (a),
  the clerk of the court shall send a copy of the warrant to:
               (1)  the attorney who represented the condemned person
  in the most recently concluded stage of a state or federal
  postconviction proceeding;
               (2)  the attorney representing the state; and
               (3)  the office of capital writs established under
  Subchapter B, Chapter 78, Government Code.
         SECTION 3.  (a)  Article 43.141, Code of Criminal Procedure,
  as amended by this Act, applies only to an order entered on or after
  the effective date of this Act.  An order entered before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
  date the order was entered, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         (b)  Article 43.15, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by
  this Act, applies only to a warrant issued on or after the effective
  date of this Act.  A warrant issued before the effective date of
  this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the warrant was
  issued, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
 
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1071 passed the Senate on
  April 20, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 0;
  May 28, 2015, Senate refused to concur in House amendment and
  requested appointment of Conference Committee; May 29, 2015, House
  granted request of the Senate; May 30, 2015, Senate adopted
  Conference Committee Report by the following vote:  Yeas 30,
  Nays 1.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1071 passed the House, with
  amendment, on May 24, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 141,
  Nays 0, two present not voting; May 29, 2015, House granted request
  of the Senate for appointment of Conference Committee;
  May 31, 2015, House adopted Conference Committee Report by the
  following vote:  Yeas 142, Nays 0, two present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
             Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor