---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the appointment of an interpreter in a criminal proceeding."
description: "Relating to the appointment of an interpreter in a criminal proceeding."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "89R"
identifier: "SB 1537"
citation: "Texas SB 1537 (89R)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts--Personnel (I0155)", "Criminal Procedure--General (I0208)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Smithee", "Zaffirini"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 49
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-02-21"
last_action: "2025-05-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5f7f7b04-cc91-4a7c-a433-6417fe583f78"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/89R/billhistory/senate_bills/SB01500_SB01599/SB 1537.xml"
source_hash: "39fb116d1a080a83f199c26d95444135dd53df88e9a701e03eddb84a98c6bc46"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tx"]
---

# Texas SB 1537 (89R) — Relating to the appointment of an interpreter in a criminal proceeding.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB01537I.HTM)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB01537E.HTM)
3. **House Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB01537H.HTM)
4. **Senate Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB01537S.HTM)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB01537F.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **105–39** (pass) · lower
- passage — **109–33** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Smithee — primary (person)
- Zaffirini — primary (person)
- West — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-02-21** Received by the Secretary of the Senate `filing, introduction`
- **2025-02-21** Filed `filing`
- **2025-03-06** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2025-03-06** Referred to Criminal Justice `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-25** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2025-03-25** Considered in public hearing
- **2025-03-25** Vote taken in committee
- **2025-03-31** Reported favorably as substituted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-31** Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
- **2025-03-31** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2025-04-03** Placed on intent calendar
- **2025-04-09** Co-author authorized
- **2025-04-10** Placed on local & uncontested calendar
- **2025-04-09** Not again placed on intent calendar
- **2025-04-10** Laid before the Senate `receipt`
- **2025-04-10** Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment `reading-2`
- **2025-04-10** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2025-04-10** Three day rule suspended
- **2025-04-10** Record vote
- **2025-04-10** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2025-04-10** Passed `passage`
- **2025-04-10** Record vote
- **2025-04-10** Reported engrossed
- **2025-04-14** Received from the Senate `introduction`
- **2025-04-22** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2025-04-22** Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence `referral-committee`
- **2025-05-06** Considered in public hearing
- **2025-05-06** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2025-05-06** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-05-09** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator `filing`
- **2025-05-09** Committee report distributed
- **2025-05-10** Committee report sent to Calendars
- **2025-05-15** Considered in Calendars
- **2025-05-19** Placed on General State Calendar
- **2025-05-19** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2025-05-19** Passed to 3rd reading
- **2025-05-19** Record vote
- **2025-05-19** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2025-05-20** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2025-05-20** Passed `passage`
- **2025-05-20** Record vote
- **2025-05-20** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2025-05-20** House passage reported `passage`
- **2025-05-20** Reported enrolled `enrolled`
- **2025-05-21** Signed in the Senate `passage`
- **2025-05-21** Signed in the House `passage`
- **2025-05-21** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-05-30** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-30** Effective immediately `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5f7f7b04-cc91-4a7c-a433-6417fe583f78`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).