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Saturday, January 29, 2005

Ind. Gov't. - Bill to remove pensions of convicted public officials stalls

"Bill to remove pensions of convicted public officials stalls" was the headline to this story Friday in the Munster (NW Indiana) Times. Some quotes:

A bill that would have required some public officials convicted of misconduct to forfeit their pension pay was shelved Thursday when state senators raised questions at a committee hearing.

The bill would give public pension boards the authority to determine whether to take away part or all of an official's pension for misconduct. Sen. Murray Clark, R-Indianapolis, authored the bill, which is backed by Gov. Mitch Daniels. Jason Barclay, special counsel to the governor, told the committee the bill is part of Daniels' larger plan for ethics and public integrity reform.

Many opponents of the bill lauded its concept but questioned seeming ambiguities, including the definition of the term "misconduct." Several committee members and opponents questioned whether the bill allowed for due process. Barclay told committee members the bill was based on a similar New Jersey law that has stood up to challenges of a lack of due process.

Other committee members questioned whether the bill would constitute double jeopardy. Barclay said the bill would impose a civil-type sanction, not criminal, and therefore not constitute double jeopardy. * * *

Clark plans to bring the bill before the committee again in a few weeks. In the meantime, he plans to make sure it allows for adequate appeals and due process. "I don't think it's ill-conceived," he told the committee. "Hoosiers want, conceptually, something like this."

The bill, Senate Bill 423, is available here. The digest to the introduced bill reads:
Forfeiture of public pensions for misconduct. Provides for the forfeiture of all or part of a pension benefit from the state excise police and conservation enforcement officers' retirement fund, the public employees' retirement fund, the teachers' retirement fund, the state police benefit system, the judges' retirement system, the prosecuting attorneys retirement fund, the 1925 police pension fund, the 1937 firefighters' pension fund, the 1953 police pension fund, the 1977 police officers' and firefighters' pension and disability fund, and the sheriff's department's pension trust fund for misconduct by a public officer or employee. Provides that: (1) meetings to receive information about or to discuss, before a determination, the forfeiture of a pension benefit may be held in an executive session; and (2) the records concerning the forfeiture are exempt from disclosure at the discretion of the pension administrator, except for the final determination, which is available for inspection and copying.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 29, 2005 12:35 PM
Posted to Indiana Government