Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB681 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	~~84R769 SGA-F~~
2		-	~~By: Sheets~~, ~~Fallon H~~.~~B. No. 681~~
	1	+	By: Sheets, Fallon, Johnson, Button, H.B. No. 681
	2	+	Anderson of Dallas, et al.
3	3
4	4
5	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6		AN ACT
7	7		relating to the eligibility for service retirement annuities of
8	8		certain persons, including elected officials convicted of certain
9	9		crimes.
10	10		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11		SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 814, Government Code, is
12	12		amended by adding Section 814.1021 to read as follows:
13	13		Sec. 814.1021. CERTAIN ELECTED MEMBERS INELIGIBLE FOR
14	14		RETIREMENT ANNUITY. (a) In this section, "qualifying felony"
15	15		means any felony involving:
16	16		(1) bribery;
17	17		(2) the embezzlement, extortion, or other theft of
18	18		public money;
19		-	(3) perjury; or
20		-	(4) conspiracy or the attempt to commit any of the
21		-	above crimes.
	19	+	(3) perjury;
	20	+	(4) coercion of public servant or voter;
	21	+	(5) tampering with governmental record;
	22	+	(6) misuse of official information;
	23	+	(7) conspiracy or the attempt to commit any of the
	24	+	above crimes; or
	25	+	(8) abuse of official capacity.
22	26		(b) This section applies only to a member of the elected
23	27		class of the retirement system as described by Section
24	28		812.002(a)(1) or (2).
25	29		(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a member is not
26	30		eligible to receive a service retirement annuity for service credit
27	31		in the elected class under the retirement system if the member is
28	32		convicted of a qualifying felony committed while in office and
29	33		arising directly from the official duties of that elected office.
30	34		(d) The retirement system shall suspend payments of an
31	35		annuity to a person ineligible to receive the annuity under
32	36		Subsection (c). A person whose conviction is overturned on appeal
33	37		or who meets the requirements for innocence under Section
34	38		103.001(a)(2), Civil Practice and Remedies Code:
35	39		(1) is entitled to receive an amount equal to the
36	40		accrued total of payments and interest earned on the payments
37	41		withheld during the suspension period; and
38	42		(2) may resume receipt of annuity payments on payment
39	43		to the retirement system of an amount equal to the contributions
40	44		refunded to the person under Subsection (e).
41	45		(e) A member who is not eligible to receive a service
42	46		retirement annuity under Subsection (c) is entitled to a refund of
43	47		the member's retirement annuity contributions, including interest
44	48		earned on those contributions.
45	49		(f) Benefits payable to an alternate payee under Chapter 804
46	50		who is recognized by a domestic relations order established before
47	51		September 1, 2015, are not affected by a member's ineligibility to
48	52		receive a retirement annuity under Subsection (c).
49	53		(g) On conviction of a member for a qualifying felony, a
50	54		court may, in the interest of justice and in the same manner as in a
51	55		divorce proceeding, award half of the service retirement annuity
52	56		forfeited by the member as the separate property of an innocent
53	57		spouse if the annuity is partitioned or exchanged by written
54	58		agreement of the spouses as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 4,
55	59		Family Code. The amount awarded to the innocent spouse may not be
56	60		converted to community property.
57	61		(h) Ineligibility for a retirement annuity under this
58	62		section does not impair a person's right to any other retirement
59	63		benefit for which the person is eligible.
60	64		(i) The board of trustees of the retirement system shall
61	65		adopt rules and procedures to implement this section.
62	66		SECTION 2. Article 6220, Revised Statutes, is repealed.
63	67		SECTION 3. (a) Section 814.1021, Government Code, as added
64	68		by this Act, applies only to a member of the Employees Retirement
65	69		System of Texas who is or was a member of the state legislature or
66	70		holds or has held a statewide elected office and, on or after the
67	71		effective date of this Act, commits an offense that is a qualifying
68	72		felony as defined by that section. A person who commits a
69	73		qualifying felony before the effective date of this Act is subject
70	74		to the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
71	75		former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
72	76		(b) For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
73	77		before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
74	78		occurred before that date.
75	79		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.