(a) When execution of sentence is suspended or respited to another date, the same shall be noted on the warrant for execution, and on the arrival of such date the warden shall proceed with such execution, but if the condemned person should be pardoned or his sentence commuted by the Governor, no execution shall be had; and, in such case, as well as when the sentence is executed, the warden shall return the warrant and certificate with a statement of any such act and with his proceedings endorsed thereon, together with the statement, where appropriate, that the body of the convict was decently buried or delivered to his relatives or friends, naming them, or to some other person by consent of the convict, naming such person and naming two or more witnesses to the fact that the convict consented that his body might be delivered to such person to the clerk of the court in which sentence was passed, who shall record said warrant and return in the minutes of the court.
(b) The state shall pay transportation charges of the body back to the home of the condemned person when his or her family or friends cannot pay such expenses, this fact to be determined by the Commissioner of Corrections.