88R3893 MCF-D
By: Meza H.B. No. 792
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the presence of a spiritual leader during the execution
of a person.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 43.20, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 43.20. PRESENT AT EXECUTION. (a) The following
persons may be present at the execution: the executioner, and such
persons as may be necessary to assist the executioner [him] in
conducting the execution; the Texas Board of Criminal Justice
[Directors of the Department of Corrections], two physicians,
including the prison physician, the spiritual leader [advisor] of
the condemned person as provided by Subsection (b), the chaplains
of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice [Corrections], the
county judge and sheriff of the county in which the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice [Corrections] is situated, and any of the
relatives or friends of the condemned person that the person [he]
may request, not exceeding five in number, shall be admitted. No
convict shall be permitted by the prison authorities to witness the
execution.
(b) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall allow a
condemned person to choose a spiritual leader of the religion that
the person practices to be present at the execution, including in
the room during the person's execution.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.