Joe Driver

{{Short description|American politician (born 1946)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name=Joe Driver

|birth_place=Rockwall, Texas, USA

|birth_date={{birth date and age|1946|9|29}}

|office=Texas State Representative for District 113

|term_start=1993

|term_end=2013

|preceded=

|succeeded=Cindy Burkett

|residence=Garland, Texas

|alma_mater=Garland High School

University of North Texas

|party=Republican

}}

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{{cite web |url=http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/03/16/2927513/house-committee-oks-bill-to-allow.html |title=House committee OKs bill to allow handguns at colleges |author=Dave Montgomery |date=March 17, 2011 |publisher=Austin Star-Telegram |access-date=December 19, 2011}} and generally favored lowering taxes over government expenditures.{{cite web |url=http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/newsletters/113/Rep.-Driver-newsletter-2010.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220055857/http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/newsletters/113/Rep.-Driver-newsletter-2010.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 20, 2011 |title=State Representative Joe Driver Reports to District 113 |author= |date= |publisher= |accessdate=December 19, 2011}}

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.[http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/garland/headlines/20100816-State-Rep-Joe-Driver-of-8622.ece State Rep. Joe Driver of Garland double-billed for travel (Associated Press)][http://watchdogblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/08/garland-state-rep-joe-driver-p.html Garland State Rep. Joe Driver pocketed $17,000 by billing campaign, taxpayers for the same expenses] (Dallas Morning News) 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.{{cite news | publisher = dallasnews.com | date = November 22, 2011 | title = Garland Republican Joe Driver pleads guilty to double-dipping on travel reimbursements | author = dallasnews Administrator | url = https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2011/11/22/garland-republican-joe-driver-pleads-guilty-to-double-dipping-on-travel-reimbursements/}}[http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/texas-political-news/tx-rep-joe-driver-get-five-years-probation/ Texas Rep. Joe Driver to Get Five Years Probation]{{cite news | publisher = statesman.com | date = December 12, 2018 | title = Judge approves probation, fine for state Rep. Joe Driver | author = Tim Eaton | url = https://www.statesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/judge-approves-probation-fine-for-state-rep-joe-driver/Mkqf7sGa47DNnF6OvduzEJ/}}

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.