Elective Office Felony Conviction Law

The California Elective Office Felony Conviction Law is in effect as of January 1, 2013.

California Assembly Bill 2410 is legislation that permanently bans elected officials and others from running for elective office in California if they are convicted of a felony involving a violation of the public trust.

The new California law prohibits the consideration of a person as a candidate for any state or local elective office if the person has been convicted of a felony involving any of the following crimes:

• Accepting a bribe
• Giving a bribe
• Offering a bribe
• Embezzlement of public money
• Extortion of public money
• Theft of public money
• Perjury
• Conspiracy to commit any of the above crimes 

The Elective Office Felony Conviction Law provides that "conviction of a felony" includes a:

• Felony conviction in the state of California
• Felony conviction in any U.S. state
• Felony conviction in the United States of America 
• Felony conviction in any nation of a crime that would be a felony if committed in California
• Felony conviction for which the convict has not received an official government pardon

"Unfortunately we've seen recently in the cities of Los Angeles, Hawthorne, Bell and Vernon, public officials have been accused or convicted of misusing their authority and violating the public's trust," said the bill's author, Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes.

"We can show our constituents that we understand their concerns about public corruption with AB 2410," Fuentes added.

California Assembly Bill 2410, signed into law by Governor Brown, only applies to those charged and convicted of a felony on or after January 1, 2013 and the new California law is now in effect.