(a) This section shall apply to a public employee first employed by a public employer or first elected or appointed to an office on or after January 1, 2013, and on and after that date, Section 7522.70 shall not apply.
(b) (1) If a public employee is convicted by a state or federal trial court of any felony under state or federal law for conduct arising out of or in the performance of his or her official duties, in pursuit of the office or appointment, or in connection with obtaining salary, disability retirement, service retirement, or other benefits, he or she shall forfeit all accrued rights and benefits in any public retirement system in which he or she is a member to the extent provided in subdivision (c) and shall not accrue further benefits in that public retirement system, effective on the date of the conviction.
(2) If a public employee who has contact with children as part of his or her official duties is convicted of a felony that was committed within the scope of his or her official duties against or involving a child who he or she has contact with as part of his or her official duties, he or she shall forfeit all accrued rights and benefits in any public retirement system in which he or she is a member to the extent provided in subdivision (c) and shall not accrue further benefits in that public retirement system, effective on the date of the conviction.
(c) (1) A member shall forfeit all the rights and benefits earned or accrued from the earliest date of the commission of any felony described in subdivision (b) to the forfeiture date, inclusive. The rights and benefits shall remain forfeited notwithstanding any reduction in sentence or expungement of the conviction following the date of the member’s conviction. Rights and benefits attributable to service performed prior to the date of the first commission of the felony for which the member was convicted shall not be forfeited as a result of this section.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall apply to the extent permissible by law.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, “forfeiture date” means the date of the conviction.
(d) (1) Any contributions to the public retirement system made by the public employee described in subdivision (b) on or after the earliest date of the commission of any felony described in subdivision (b) shall be returned, without interest, to the public employee upon the occurrence of a distribution event unless otherwise ordered by a court or determined by the pension administrator.
(2) Any funds returned to the public employee pursuant to subdivision (d) shall be disbursed by electronic funds transfer to an account of the public employee, in a manner conforming with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, and the public retirement system shall notify the court and the district attorney at least three business days before that disbursement of funds.
(3) For the purposes of this subdivision, a “distribution event” means any of the following:
(A) Separation from employment.
(B) Death of the member.
(C) Retirement of the member.
(e) (1) Upon conviction, a public employee as described in subdivision (b) and the prosecuting agency shall notify the public employer who employed the public employee at the time of the commission of the felony within 60 days of the felony conviction of all of the following information:
(A) The date of conviction.
(B) The date of the first known commission of the felony.
(2) The operation of this section is not dependent upon the performance of the notification obligations specified in this subdivision.
(f) The public employer that employs or employed a public employee described in subdivision (b) and that public employee shall each notify the public retirement system in which the public employee is a member of that public employee’s conviction within 90 days of the conviction. The operation of this section is not dependent upon the performance of the notification obligations specified in this subdivision.
(g) A public retirement system may assess a public employer a reasonable amount to reimburse the cost of audit, adjustment, or correction, if it determines that the public employer failed to comply with this section.
(h) If a public employee’s conviction is reversed and that decision is final, the employee shall be entitled to do either of the following:
(1) Recover the forfeited rights and benefits as adjusted for the contributions received pursuant to subdivision (d).
(2) Redeposit those contributions and interest that would have accrued during the forfeiture period, as determined by the system actuary, and then recover the full amount of the forfeited rights and benefits.
(i) The forfeiture of rights and benefits provided in this section, with respect to judges, are in addition to and supplement the forfeitures and other requirements provided in Section 75033.2, 75062, 75526, or 75563. If there is a conflict between this section and Section 75033.2, 75062, 75526, or 75563, the provisions that result in the greatest forfeiture or provide the most stringent procedural requirements to the claim of a judge shall apply.
(j) A public employee first employed by a public employer or first elected or appointed to an office before January 1, 2013, shall be subject to Section 7522.72.
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 238, Sec. 4. (AB 2476) Effective January 1, 2015.)