Public employees: pensions: forfeiture.

Existing law provides that any elected public officer who takes public office, or is reelected to public office, on or after January 1, 2006, who is convicted of any specified felony arising directly out of his or her official duties, forfeits all rights and benefits under, and membership in, any public retirement system in which he or she is a member, effective on the date of final conviction, as specified. This bill would additionally include tampering with a witness, money laundering, and the preparation of false documents among the specified felonies that would result in that forfeiture for any elected public officer who takes public office, or is reelected to public office, on or after January 1, 2013. This bill would also make clarifying changes to that provision. This bill would additionally require a public officer, as defined, or public employee who is convicted of any felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, tampering with a witness, money laundering, the preparation of false documents, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes arising directly out of his or her official duties on or after January 1, 2013, to forfeit all rights and benefits under any public retirement system in which he or she is a member, effective on the date of conviction. That public officer or employee would forfeit only that portion of his or her rights and benefits that accrued on or after January 1, 2013. The bill would require any contributions made by that public officer or public employee to the public retirement system that arose directly from or accrued solely as a result of his or her forfeited service would be returned to the public officer or public employee without interest. The bill would additionally specify that the pension forfeiture provisions for elected public officers, other public officers, and public employees shall not be construed to abrogate the rights of an innocent spouse who was not involved in the commission of the felony and would require the public retirement system to establish a separate account to maintain the innocent spouse's community property interests in any benefits accrued.