Joe Driver (born September 29, 1946 in Rockwall,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

) is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

of Texas. From 1993 to 2013, he represented the 113th district in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

, a seat that he initially won in the 1992 elections. He served on the House committees on (1) Appropriations and (2) Public Safety. He was a leading

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

in the legislature who sponsored bills to allow

concealed carry Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), is the practice of carrying a weapon (usually a sidearm such as a handgun), either in proximity to or on one's person or in public places in a manner that hides or conceals the weapon's pr ...

on college campuses and generally favored lowering taxes over government expenditures. On August 16, 2010, Driver admitted to billing the Texas House for certain expenses for which he had already been reimbursed by his own campaign fund.Dallas Morning News''
State Rep. Joe Driver of Garland double-billed for travel (Associated Press)
/ref> On December 19, 2011 Driver pleaded guilty to a third-degree

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

of abuse in his official capacity as a state lawmaker as a consequence of the double-billing. He was fined $5,000 and given five years'

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

. The maximum penalty for the crime is ten years in prison plus a $10,000 fine. Driver's plea bargain allowed him to keep his voting rights in the legislature, avoid being a convicted felon, and to collect his state retirement of $57,000 a year when he retired as a legislator in 2013. He did not seek re-nomination in 2012, and the seat was handily won by the outgoing District 101 representative, Republican

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Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus '' Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under gr ...

References

External links

Driver's official web site from the Texas House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Driver, Joe 1946 births Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Rockwall, Texas People from Garland, Texas Businesspeople from Texas Insurance agents Garland High School alumni University of North Texas alumni Texas politicians convicted of crimes 21st-century American politicians