---
kind: "section"
citation: "28 U.S.C. § 2262"
title: "28"
title_heading: "Judiciary and Judicial Procedure"
number: "2262"
heading: "Mandatory stay of execution; duration; limits on stays of execution; successive petitions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/28/2262"
units:
  - "Part VI — Particular Proceedings"
  - "Chapter 154 — Special Habeas Corpus Procedures in Capital Cases"
---

# §2262. Mandatory stay of execution; duration; limits on stays of execution; successive petitions

- (a) Upon the entry in the appropriate [State](/usc/28/3002.md?p=14) [court](/usc/28/3002.md?p=2) of record of an order under [section 2261(c)](/usc/28/2261.md?p=c), a warrant or order setting an execution date for a [State](/usc/28/3002.md?p=14) prisoner shall be stayed upon application to any [court](/usc/28/3002.md?p=2) that would have jurisdiction over any proceedings filed under section 2254. The application shall recite that the [State](/usc/28/3002.md?p=14) has invoked the post-conviction review procedures of this chapter and that the scheduled execution is subject to stay.
- (b) A stay of execution granted pursuant to [subsection (a)](#a) shall expire if—
  - (1) a [State](/usc/28/3002.md?p=14) prisoner fails to file a habeas corpus application under [section 2254](/usc/28/2254.md) within the time required in [section 2263](/usc/28/2263.md);
  - (2) before a [court](/usc/28/3002.md?p=2) of competent jurisdiction, in the presence of counsel, unless the prisoner has competently and knowingly waived such counsel, and after having been advised of the consequences, a [State](/usc/28/3002.md?p=14) prisoner under capital sentence waives the right to pursue habeas corpus review under [section 2254](/usc/28/2254.md); or
  - (3) a [State](/usc/28/3002.md?p=14) prisoner files a habeas corpus petition under [section 2254](/usc/28/2254.md) within the time required by [section 2263](/usc/28/2263.md) and fails to make a substantial showing of the denial of a Federal right or is denied relief in the district [court](/usc/28/3002.md?p=2) or at any subsequent stage of review.
- (c) If one of the conditions in [subsection (b)](#b) has occurred, no Federal [court](/usc/28/3002.md?p=2) thereafter shall have the authority to enter a stay of execution in the case, unless the [court](/usc/28/3002.md?p=2) of appeals approves the filing of a second or successive application under [section 2244(b)](/usc/28/2244.md?p=b).

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 104–132, title I, § 107(a), Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1222.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Section applicable to cases pending on or after Apr. 24, 1996, see section 107(c) of Pub. L. 104–132, set out as a note under section 2261 of this title.