| 1 | 1 | | 85R8106 ATP-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Geren H.B. No. 1273 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the effect of certain felony convictions of public |
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| 8 | 8 | | elected officers. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 810, Government Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | adding Section 810.002 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 810.002. CERTAIN ELECTED OFFICIALS INELIGIBLE FOR |
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| 13 | 13 | | RETIREMENT ANNUITY. (a) In this section: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) "Governing body of a public retirement system" and |
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| 15 | 15 | | "public retirement system" have the meanings assigned by Section |
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| 16 | 16 | | 802.001. |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2) "Qualifying felony" means any felony involving: |
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| 18 | 18 | | (A) bribery; |
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| 19 | 19 | | (B) the embezzlement, extortion, or other theft |
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| 20 | 20 | | of public money; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (C) perjury; |
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| 22 | 22 | | (D) coercion of public servant or voter; |
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| 23 | 23 | | (E) tampering with governmental record; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (F) misuse of official information; |
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| 25 | 25 | | (G) conspiracy or the attempt to commit any of |
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| 26 | 26 | | the offenses described by Paragraphs (A)-(F); or |
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| 27 | 27 | | (H) abuse of official capacity. |
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| 28 | 28 | | (b) This section applies only to a person who is: |
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| 29 | 29 | | (1) a member of the elected class of the Employees |
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| 30 | 30 | | Retirement System of Texas as described by Section 812.002(a)(1) or |
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| 31 | 31 | | (2); or |
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| 32 | 32 | | (2) otherwise eligible for membership in a public |
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| 33 | 33 | | retirement system wholly or partly because the person held an |
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| 34 | 34 | | elected office. |
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| 35 | 35 | | (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a member of a |
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| 36 | 36 | | public retirement system is not eligible to receive a service |
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| 37 | 37 | | retirement annuity under the retirement system if the member is |
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| 38 | 38 | | convicted of a qualifying felony committed while in office and |
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| 39 | 39 | | arising directly from the official duties of that elected office. |
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| 40 | 40 | | (d) The retirement system shall suspend payments of an |
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| 41 | 41 | | annuity to a person ineligible to receive the annuity under |
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| 42 | 42 | | Subsection (c). A person whose conviction is overturned on appeal |
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| 43 | 43 | | or who meets the requirements for innocence under Section |
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| 44 | 44 | | 103.001(a)(2), Civil Practice and Remedies Code: |
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| 45 | 45 | | (1) is entitled to receive an amount equal to the |
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| 46 | 46 | | accrued total of payments and interest earned on the payments |
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| 47 | 47 | | withheld during the suspension period; and |
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| 48 | 48 | | (2) may resume receipt of annuity payments on payment |
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| 49 | 49 | | to the retirement system of an amount equal to the contributions |
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| 50 | 50 | | refunded to the person under Subsection (e). |
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| 51 | 51 | | (e) A member who is ineligible to receive a service |
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| 52 | 52 | | retirement annuity under Subsection (c) is entitled to a refund of |
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| 53 | 53 | | the member's service retirement annuity contributions, including |
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| 54 | 54 | | interest earned on those contributions. |
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| 55 | 55 | | (f) Benefits payable to an alternate payee under Chapter 804 |
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| 56 | 56 | | who is recognized by a domestic relations order established before |
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| 57 | 57 | | January 8, 2019, are not affected by a member's ineligibility to |
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| 58 | 58 | | receive a service retirement annuity under Subsection (c). |
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| 59 | 59 | | (g) On conviction of a member for a qualifying felony, a |
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| 60 | 60 | | court may, in the interest of justice and in the same manner as in a |
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| 61 | 61 | | divorce proceeding, award half of the service retirement annuity |
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| 62 | 62 | | forfeited by the member as the separate property of an innocent |
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| 63 | 63 | | spouse if the annuity is partitioned or exchanged by written |
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| 64 | 64 | | agreement of the spouses as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 4, |
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| 65 | 65 | | Family Code. The amount awarded to the innocent spouse may not be |
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| 66 | 66 | | converted to community property. |
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| 67 | 67 | | (h) Ineligibility for a service retirement annuity under |
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| 68 | 68 | | this section does not impair a person's right to any other |
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| 69 | 69 | | retirement benefit for which the person is eligible. |
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| 70 | 70 | | (i) The governing body of a public retirement system shall |
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| 71 | 71 | | adopt rules and procedures to implement this section. |
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| 72 | 72 | | SECTION 2. Chapter 601, Government Code, is amended by |
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| 73 | 73 | | adding Section 601.011 to read as follows: |
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| 74 | 74 | | Sec. 601.011. VACANCY ON FINAL FELONY CONVICTION OF MEMBER |
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| 75 | 75 | | OF LEGISLATURE, GOVERNOR, OR STATE ELECTED OFFICIAL. A member of |
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| 76 | 76 | | the legislature, the governor, or a state elected official |
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| 77 | 77 | | convicted of a felony vacates the member's, governor's, or |
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| 78 | 78 | | official's office on the date the conviction becomes final. |
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| 79 | 79 | | SECTION 3. Section 810.002, Government Code, as added by |
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| 80 | 80 | | this Act, applies only to a member of a public retirement system who |
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| 81 | 81 | | holds or has held elected office and, on or after the effective date |
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| 82 | 82 | | of this Act, commits an offense that is a qualifying felony as |
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| 83 | 83 | | defined by that section. A person who commits a qualifying felony |
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| 84 | 84 | | before the effective date of this Act is subject to the law in |
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| 85 | 85 | | effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is |
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| 86 | 86 | | continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, |
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| 87 | 87 | | an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if |
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| 88 | 88 | | any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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| 89 | 89 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 8, 2019. |
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