KRS 431.218: Date of execution of condemned -- Copy of mandate to proper officer.

When a judgment sentencing the defendant to death has been affirmed, the mandate shall

fix the day of the execution as the fifth Friday following the date of the mandate of the

court. The clerk of the Supreme Court shall transmit either by special messenge r or by

certified mail, return receipt requested, a certified copy of the mandate to the proper

officer which shall be the authority of such officer to carry the mandate into effect. The

officer receiving the copy shall report his action both to the govern or and to the circuit

court. If from any cause the execution does not take place on the day appointed in the

mandate, the governor may from time to time appoint another day for execution until the

sentence is carried into effect.