H.B. No. 1996
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to admonitions given by a court to a defendant before
  accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 26.13, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to
  read as follows:
         (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (d-1), the [The] court
  may make the admonitions required by this article either orally or
  in writing. If the court makes the admonitions in writing, it must
  receive a statement signed by the defendant and the defendant's
  attorney that the defendant [he] understands the admonitions and is
  aware of the consequences of the [his] plea. If the defendant is
  unable or refuses to sign the statement, the court shall make the
  admonitions orally.
         (d-1)  The court shall make the admonition required by
  Subsection (a)(4) both orally and in writing. Unless the court has
  received the statement as described by Subsection (d), the court
  must receive a statement signed by the defendant and the
  defendant's attorney that the defendant understands the admonition
  required by Subsection (a)(4) and is aware of the consequences of
  the plea. If the defendant is unable or refuses to sign the
  statement, the court shall make a record of that fact.
         SECTION 2.  Article 26.13, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
  amended by this Act, applies only to a plea of guilty or a plea of
  nolo contendere accepted by a court on or after September 1, 2019,
  regardless of whether the offense for which the plea was submitted
  was committed before, on, or after that date.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1996 was passed by the House on April
  17, 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 133, Nays 5, 3 present, not
  voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1996 was passed by the Senate on May
  10, 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
  APPROVED:  _____________________
                     Date          
   
            _____________________
                   Governor