SEC. 15.105. SUSPENSION AND REMOVAL.
§ 15.105
City officials and commission members can be suspended by the Mayor for official misconduct, with the Ethics Commission holding a hearing and the Board of Supervisors voting on removal; certain felony convictions involving moral turpitude trigger mandatory removal after an Ethics Commission hearing; and individuals removed for misconduct face a five-year employment ban from City positions (or ten years if removed for certain felony convictions).
The Mayor can temporarily suspend a City official or commission member accused of wrongdoing. The Ethics Commission holds a hearing, then recommends to the Board of Supervisors whether to permanently remove the person. Removal requires a three-fourths vote by the Supervisors. If they don't vote within 30 days, the person goes back to work. If someone is convicted of a serious crime involving dishonesty, the Ethics Commission must hold a hearing and then that person must be removed from office immediately. People removed for misconduct cannot hold City jobs for five years, or ten years if removed after a felony conviction. The Ethics Commission can sometimes waive the five-year ban if certain conditions are met.
- Complex:The section contains multiple overlapping removal processes (subsections a, b, c) with different procedures for different officials, cross-references between subsections, and conditional rules that require careful reading to apply correctly.
- Controversial:Suspension and removal of elected and appointed officials is inherently contentious in local governance, raising questions about due process, political considerations, and the balance of power between the Mayor, Ethics Commission, and Board of Supervisors.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) ELECTIVE AND CERTAIN APPOINTED OFFICERS. Any elective officer, and any member of the Airport Commission, Asian Art Commission, Civil Service Commission, Commission on the Status of Women, Golden Gate Concourse Authority Board of Directors, Health Commission, Human Services Commission, Juvenile Probation Commission, Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors, Port Commission, Public Utilities Commission, Recreation and Park Commission, Fine Arts Museums Board of Trustees, War Memorial and Performing Art Center Board of Trustees, Board of Education or Community College Board is subject to suspension and removal for official misconduct as provided in this section. Such officer may be suspended by the Mayor and the Mayor shall appoint a qualified person to discharge the duties of the office during the period of suspension. Upon such suspension, the Mayor shall immediately notify the Ethics Commission and Board of Supervisors thereof in writing and the cause thereof, and shall present written charges against such suspended officer to the Ethics Commission and Board of Supervisors at or prior to their next regular meetings following such suspension, and shall immediately furnish a copy of the same to such officer, who shall have the right to appear with counsel before the Ethics Commission in his or her defense. The Ethics Commission shall hold a hearing not less than five days after the filing of written charges. After the hearing, the Ethics Commission shall transmit the full record of the hearing to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation as to whether the charges should be sustained. If, after reviewing the complete record, the charges are sustained by not less than a three-fourths vote of all members of the Board of Supervisors, the suspended officer shall be removed from office; if not so sustained, or if not acted on by the Board of Supervisors within 30 days after the receipt of the record from the Ethics Commission, the suspended officer shall thereby be reinstated.
(b) BUILDING INSPECTION COMMISSION, PLANNING COMMISSION, BOARD OF APPEALS, ELECTIONS COMMISSION, ETHICS COMMISSION, SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT OVERSIGHT BOARD, AND ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSION. Members of the Building Inspection Commission, the Planning Commission, the Board of Appeals, the Elections Commission, the Ethics Commission, the Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board, and the Entertainment Commission may be suspended and removed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section except that the Mayor may initiate removal only of the Mayor’s appointees and the appointing authority shall act in place of the Mayor for all other appointees.
(c) REMOVAL FOR CONVICTION OF A FELONY CRIME INVOLVING MORAL TURPITUDE.
(1) Officers Enumerated in Subsections (a) and (b).
(A) An appointing authority must immediately remove from office any official enumerated in subsections (a) or (b) upon:
(i) a court's final conviction of that official of a felony crime involving moral turpitude; and
(ii) a determination made by the Ethics Commission, after a hearing, that the crime for which the official was convicted warrants removal.
(B) For the purposes of this subsection, the Mayor shall act as the appointing authority for any elective official.
(C) Removal under this subsection is not subject to the procedures in subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
(2) Other Officers and Employees.
(A) At will appointees. Officers and employees who hold their positions at the pleasure of their appointing authority must be removed upon:
(i) a final conviction of a felony crime involving moral turpitude; and
(ii) a determination made by the Ethics Commission, after a hearing, that the crime for which the appointee was convicted warrants removal.
(B) For cause appointees. Officers and employees who by law may be removed only for cause must be removed upon:
(i) a final conviction of a felony crime involving moral turpitude; and
(ii) a determination made by the Ethics Commission, after a hearing, that the crime for which the appointee was convicted warrants removal.
(3) Penalty for Failure to Remove. Failure to remove an appointee as required under this subsection shall be official misconduct.
(d) DISQUALIFICATION.
(1) (A) Any person who has been removed from any federal, state, County or City office or employment upon a final conviction of a felony crime involving moral turpitude shall be ineligible for election or appointment to City office or employment for a period of ten years after removal.
(B) Any person removed from any federal, state, County or City office or employment for official misconduct shall be ineligible for election or appointment to City office or employment for a period of five years after removal.
(2) (A) Any City department head, board, commission or other appointing authority that removes a City officer or employee from office or employment on the grounds of official misconduct must invoke the disqualification provision in subsection (d)(1)(B) and provide notice of such disqualification in writing to the City officer or employee.
(B) Upon the request of any former City officer or employee, the Ethics Commission may, after a public hearing, overturn the application of the disqualification provision of subsection (d)(1)(B) if: (i) the decision that the former officer or employee engaged in official misconduct was not made after a hearing by a court, the Board of Supervisors, the Ethics Commission, an administrative body, an administrative hearing officer, or a labor arbitrator; and (ii) if the officer or employee does not have the right to appeal his or her restriction on holding future office or employment to the San Francisco Civil Service Commission.
(e) OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT. Official misconduct means any wrongful behavior by a public officer in relation to the duties of his or her office, willful in its character, including any failure, refusal or neglect of an officer to perform any duty enjoined on him or her by law, or conduct that falls below the standard of decency, good faith and right action impliedly required of all public officers and including any violation of a specific conflict of interest or governmental ethics law. When any City law provides that a violation of the law constitutes or is deemed official misconduct, the conduct is covered by this definition and may subject the person to discipline and/or removal from office.
(Amended November 2001; March 2002; November 2003; Proposition D, Approved 11/3/2020)
SEC. 15.106.
(Repealed November 2003)