Independent Sen. Joanne M. Rodríguez Veve introduced Senate Bill 1504 to restore criminal liability for public officials who intentionally fail to comply with legal mandates, even when no public funds are lost and no government property is damaged. The measure would amend Articles 262 and 263 of Puerto Rico’s Penal Code and Article 4.2 of the Organic Law of the Office of Government Ethics.
Under current law, an official can ignore a statutory obligation without criminal consequences unless the omission causes financial loss or harm to public assets, a standard set in the 2004 Penal Code and kept in later revisions. Rodríguez Veve said the bill would return Puerto Rico to the legal framework that existed before 2004, when voluntary omission or negligence in fulfilling duties imposed by law or regulation was a punishable offense on its own.
"Right now, in Puerto Rico, as long as there is no direct financial impact, a public official can ignore a legal mandate, and nothing happens," she said, adding that the bill aligns Puerto Rico with the norm in the rest of the United States. She cited a recent Office of the Comptroller investigation into Law 140-2014, which found that for more than a decade the trust the statute required was never created, its board was never appointed, and no annual report was submitted to the Legislature.
No criminal liability could be imposed because the funds sat untouched in an inactive account.