S.B. No. 500         AN ACT   relating to the effect of certain felony convictions of public   elected officers.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Chapter 810, Government Code, is amended by   adding Section 810.002 to read as follows:          Sec. 810.002.  CERTAIN ELECTED OFFICIALS INELIGIBLE FOR   RETIREMENT ANNUITY. (a)  In this section:                (1)  "Governing body of a public retirement system" and   "public retirement system" have the meanings assigned by Section   802.001.                (2)  "Qualifying felony" means any felony involving:                      (A)  bribery;                      (B)  the embezzlement, extortion, or other theft   of public money;                      (C)  perjury;                      (D)  coercion of public servant or voter;                      (E)  tampering with governmental record;                      (F)  misuse of official information;                      (G)  conspiracy or the attempt to commit any of   the offenses described by Paragraphs (A)-(F); or                      (H)  abuse of official capacity.          (b)  This section applies only to a person who is:                (1)  a member of the elected class of the Employees   Retirement System of Texas as described by Section 812.002(a)(1) or   (2); or                (2)  otherwise eligible for membership in a public   retirement system wholly or partly because the person was elected   or appointed to an elected office.          (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a member of a   public retirement system is not eligible to receive a service   retirement annuity under the retirement system if the member is   convicted of a qualifying felony committed while in office and   arising directly from the official duties of that elected office.          (d)  The retirement system, on receipt of notice of a   conviction under Subsection (e) or (k), any similar notice of a   conviction of a qualifying felony from a United States district   court or United States attorney, or any other information that the   retirement system determines by rule is sufficient to establish a   conviction of a qualifying felony, shall suspend payments of a   service retirement annuity to a person the system determines is   ineligible to receive the annuity under Subsection (c). A person   whose conviction is overturned on appeal or who meets the   requirements for innocence under Section 103.001(a)(2), Civil   Practice and Remedies Code:                (1)  is entitled to receive an amount equal to the   accrued total of payments and interest earned on the payments   withheld during the suspension period; and                (2)  may resume receipt of annuity payments on payment   to the retirement system of an amount equal to the contributions   refunded to the person under Subsection (f).          (e)  Not later than the 30th day after the conviction of a   person of a qualifying felony, the governmental entity to which the   person was elected or appointed must provide written notice of the   conviction to the public retirement system in which the person is   enrolled. The notice must comply with the administrative rules   adopted by the public retirement system under Subsection (j).          (f)  A member who is ineligible to receive a service   retirement annuity under Subsection (c) is entitled to a refund of   the member's service retirement annuity contributions, including   interest earned on those contributions.  A refund under this   subsection is subject to an award of all or part of the member's   service retirement annuity contributions to a former spouse,   including as a just and right division of the contributions on   divorce, payment of child support, or payment of spousal   maintenance or contractual alimony or other order of a court.          (g)  Benefits payable to an alternate payee under Chapter 804   who is recognized by a qualified domestic relations order   established before the effective date of this subsection are not   affected by a member's ineligibility to receive a service   retirement annuity under Subsection (c).          (h)  On conviction of a member for a qualifying felony:                (1)  a court may, in the same manner as in a divorce or   annulment proceeding, make a just and right division of the   member's service retirement annuity by awarding to the member's   spouse all or part of the community property interest in the annuity   forfeited by the member; and                (2)  a court shall, if the member's service retirement   annuity was partitioned or exchanged by written agreement of the   spouses as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 4, Family Code, before   the member's commission of the offense, award the annuity forfeited   by the member to the member's spouse as provided in the agreement.          (i)  Ineligibility for a service retirement annuity under   this section does not impair a person's right to any other   retirement benefit for which the person is eligible.          (j)  The governing body of a public retirement system shall   adopt rules and procedures to implement this section.          (k)  A court shall notify the retirement system of the terms   of a conviction of a person convicted of an offense described by   Subsection (c).          (l)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if   the spouse of a member convicted of a qualifying felony is convicted   of the felony as a party to the offense as defined by Section 7.01,   Penal Code, or of another qualifying offense arising out of the same   criminal episode as defined by Section 3.01, Penal Code, the spouse   forfeits the member's service retirement annuity and service   retirement contributions to the same extent as the member.          SECTION 2.  Chapter 601, Government Code, is amended by   adding Section 601.011 to read as follows:          Sec. 601.011.  VACANCY ON FINAL FELONY CONVICTION OF MEMBER   OF LEGISLATURE, GOVERNOR, OR STATE ELECTED OFFICIAL. A member of   the legislature, the governor, or a state elected official   convicted of a felony vacates the member's, governor's, or   official's office on the date the conviction becomes final.          SECTION 3.  Article 42.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is   amended by adding Section 12 to read as follows:          Sec. 12.  In addition to the information described by   Section 1, the judgment should reflect affirmative findings entered   pursuant to Article 42.0196.          SECTION 4.  Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is   amended by adding Article 42.0196 to read as follows:          Art. 42.0196.  FINDING REGARDING OFFENSE RELATED TO   PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC SERVICE. (a)  In the trial of an offense   described by Section 810.002, Government Code, the judge shall make   an affirmative finding of fact and enter the affirmative finding in   the judgment in the case if the judge determines that the defendant   is:                (1)  a member of the elected class described by Section   810.002(b)(1), Government Code, while a member of the Employees   Retirement System of Texas; or                (2)  a holder of an elected office for which the   defendant wholly or partly became eligible for membership in a   public retirement system.          (b)  A judge who makes the affirmative finding described by   this article shall make the determination and provide the notice   required by Section 810.002(k), Government Code.          SECTION 5.  Section 810.002, Government Code, as added by   this Act, applies only to a member of a public retirement system who   holds or has held elected office and, on or after the effective date   of this Act, commits an offense that is a qualifying felony as   defined by that section. A person who commits a qualifying felony   before the effective date of this Act is subject to the law in   effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is   continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,   an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if   any element of the offense occurred before that date.          SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives   a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as   provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this   Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this   Act takes effect September 1, 2017.             ______________________________ ______________________________      President of the Senate Speaker of the House                 I hereby certify that S.B. No. 500 passed the Senate on   February 8, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0; and that   the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 22, 2017, by the   following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.       ______________________________   Secretary of the Senate                I hereby certify that S.B. No. 500 passed the House, with   amendments, on May 15, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 141,   Nays 0, one present not voting.       ______________________________   Chief Clerk of the House            Approved:     ______________________________                Date       ______________________________              Governor