Report Title:

Elected Officials; Loss of Benefits upon Conviction

Description:

Mandates forfeiture of employment benefits for elected officials convicted of a felony.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1050

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO CRIme.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Section 831-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§831-2 Rights lost. (a) A person sentenced for a felony, from the time of the person's sentence until the person's final discharge, may not:

(1) Vote in an election, but if execution of sentence is suspended with or without the defendant being placed on probation or the defendant is paroled after commitment to imprisonment, the defendant may vote during the period of the suspension or parole; or

(2) Become a candidate for or hold public office.

(b) A public office held at the time of a felony conviction is forfeited as of the date of the conviction, if the conviction is in this State, or, if the conviction is in another state or in a federal court, as of the date a certification of the conviction from the trial court is filed in the office of the lieutenant governor who shall receive and file it as a public document. An appeal or other proceeding taken to set aside or otherwise nullify the conviction or sentence does not affect the application of this section, but if the conviction is reversed the defendant shall be restored to any public office forfeited under this chapter from the time of the reversal and shall be entitled to the emoluments thereof from the time of the forfeiture.

For purposes of this section, "time of conviction" means the day upon which the person was found guilty of [the] felony charges by the trier of fact or determined to be guilty by the court.

(c) An elected official who has been found guilty of a felony shall, with respect to non-salary employment benefits, be considered terminated from the official's elected office as of the date of the commission of the felony.

[(c)] (d) Subsections (a) and (b) of this section and any other laws to the contrary notwithstanding, any person convicted of any act, attempt, or conspiracy to overthrow the state or the federal government by force or violence shall not hold any public office or employment."

SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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