During the 2015 legislative session the Pensions Subcommittee of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee asked the the Department of Legislative Services to conduct a study of when a recipient of a Maryland state pension must forfeit his or her pension. The Department found that Maryland’s forfeiture provisions are limited to state legislators and that there is notable variation in pension forfeiture provisions throughout the United States.

The Department of Legislative Services report describes pension forfeiture in Maryland and in an addendum lists forfeiture provisions throughout the country. As described in the report, in Maryland,

The only forfeiture provision applicable to the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (SRPS) is found in the Legislative Penion Plan(LPP). Under that provision, a member of the LPP who is convicted of or enters a plea of nolo contendere to any crime committed during the term of office and the crime is a felony, or the crime is a misdemeanor related to the member’s public duties and involves moral turpitude, is required to forfeit pension benefits.

For more information, read the full report, and review the pension forfeitures provisions in other states.