HB 741 Summary

• Allows forfeiture of public retirement system benefits for state employees convicted of certain federal crimes (RICO, bribery, mail/wire fraud, organized crime) committed in positions of honor, trust, or profit

• Expands benefit forfeiture provisions to include extortion, bribery, and perjury offenses in addition to existing crimes like theft and abuse of authority

• Requires prosecutors and retirement systems to notify each other when members are charged with qualifying offenses and to freeze benefit payments pending case resolution

• Creates new misdemeanor offense for failure to report charges or convictions to public retirement systems or alternative retirement plans

• Applies to all major Ohio public retirement systems including PERS, Police & Fire, Teachers, School Employees, and State Highway Patrol systems