By: Taylor of Collin  S.B. No. 500          (In the Senate - Filed January 25, 2017; January 30, 2017,   read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;   February 2, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote:     Yeas 9, Nays 0; February 2, 2017, sent to printer.)Click here to see the committee vote     A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   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 held 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 shall suspend payments of an   annuity to a person 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 (e).          (e)  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.          (f)  Benefits payable to an alternate payee under Chapter 804   who is recognized by a domestic relations order established before   January 8, 2019, are not affected by a member's ineligibility to   receive a service retirement annuity under Subsection (c).          (g)  On conviction of a member for a qualifying felony, a   court may, in the interest of justice and in the same manner as in a   divorce proceeding, award half of the service retirement annuity   forfeited by the member as the separate property of an innocent   spouse if the annuity is partitioned or exchanged by written   agreement of the spouses as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 4,   Family Code.  The amount awarded to the innocent spouse may not be   converted to community property.          (h)  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.          (i)  The governing body of a public retirement system shall   adopt rules and procedures to implement this section.          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.  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 4.  This Act takes effect January 8, 2019.     * * * * *