Joe Driver

Joe Driver (born September 29, 1946 in Rockwall, Texas) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas. From 1993 to 2013, he represented the 113th district in the Texas House of Representatives, 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 in the legislature who sponsored bills to allow concealed carry on college campuses[1] and generally favored lowering taxes over government expenditures.[2]

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.[3][4] On December 19, 2011 Driver pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony 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. 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.[5][6][7]

He did not seek re-nomination in 2012, and the seat was handily won by the outgoing District 101 representative, Republican Cindy Burkett of Mesquite.