Independent MP Gareth Ward could remain the state member for the Kiama electorate even if he is sent to jail.

Ward will return to the NSW District Court on Wednesday after being released on bail since he was found guilty on Friday of sexual intercourse without consent and three counts of indecent assault.

The 44-year-old, who has protested his innocence throughout the judicial process, could appeal the verdict.

Crown Prosecutor Monika Knowles has indicated that she will request that his bail should be revoked on Wednesday.

If Judge Kara Shead agrees, Ward will be taken into custody and imprisoned before he is sentenced at a later date.

He was found guilty after complaints from a man, aged 24 at the time, over an incident at Potts Point in Sydney’s east a decade ago.

The jury also found Ward guilty of indecently assaulting a recently turned 18-year-old at the politician’s Meroo Meadow home in 2013.

NSW Premier Chris Minns and Opposition Leader Mark Speakman have called on Ward to resign immediately.

The Premier said on Monday said it was "ridiculous" that Ward was able, under the NSW Constitution, to retain his seat even after he had been convicted of such serious offences.

“You name me one workplace in the world where that person would continue to be an employee facing that kind of jail time,” he said.

"We are not dealing with hypotheticals any more. He has been convicted."

Minns has indicated the NSW Government will take steps to protect the Legislative Assembly’s integrity because Ward's position is "no longer tenable".

Parliament resumes next week and if Ward is expelled, a by-election will be held.

Ward has been involved in politics for more than two decades after starting as a Councillor in the Shoalhaven before claiming the state seat of Kiama in 2011 and retaining it ever since, including as an independent - after he resigned from the Liberal Party - at the most recent election in 2023.

He was suspended by the NSW Parliament in 2022 after the former minister for families, communities and disability services was charged by police with the sexual assault offences.

After he was re-elected the following year, he was allowed to continue in the role after a Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee warned the government to "seriously consider any negative risks to the parliament, constituents, victims of any alleged crimes and the presumption of innocence" in relation to situations such as the one involving the Kiama MP.

The NSW Constitution provides for politicians to be disqualified from Parliament if they are convicted of a charge that is punishable by a sentence of a prison term of more than five years, which is the case for all four offences that Ward was found guilty of committing.

Sydney University Professor Anne Twomey, a constitutional law expert, told ABC Radio on Monday morning that there is the distinct possibility that Ward could be suspended but that the Constitution was amended 25 years ago to say expulsion ultimately depends on whether there is an appeal and its outcome.

“What if you are elected, you’ve been convicted but you appeal and they overturn your conviction?” she said.

“So the Constitution now says your disqualification only kicks in if, at the point where you’ve not appealed within the prescribed time, your disqualification kicks in immediately. Or if you have appealed, the disqualification kicks in at the point at which the appeals are all determined, assuming that they don’t quash your conviction.

“There’s potentially quite a long period, depending on how long it takes to get an appeal on and whether there’s a further appeal after that, etc.”

Professor Twomey said the most obvious path for the Parliament to take if they believe Ward should be removed would be to suspend him during an appeal period.

“However in NSW, you can neither suspend or expel for any reason other than protecting the integrity of the Parliament and its ability to fulfil its functions,” she added.

“So you can’t suspend or expel for punishment.

“Punishment is something that can only be applied by the courts, not the Parliament.

“The Constitution respects the fact that someone could appeal and the conviction could be quashed and therefore they should be able to retain their seat. So if you interfere with that with an expulsion, it’s sort of undermining that Constitutional respect for the process.”

Professor Twomey said when the amendments were made to the Constitution in 2000, a provision was made so that “nothing in this section affects any power that a House has to expel a member of parliament”.

“Expulsion power is still there in extreme cases and it would be a matter for the Parliament to decide whether this is an extreme case,” she explained.

“In an extreme case they could say, well it undermines the ability of our House to operate because people will lose trust in us and respect for us and therefore in the circumstances we just simply have to expel (rather) than leave it up to the people to decide (at the next election).

“They could do that. It’s a choice but in all circumstances they have to be able to justify it by saying this is for self-protection of the House’s ability to perform its function, it’s not because of the purposes of punishment.

“If he appeals then it will take a while until that’s resolved. So you could be a member of Parliament and sitting in prison.”

Speakman issued a statement to say Ward's conduct was a "complete abuse of power".

"The Member for Kiama must resign from Parliament. If Mr Ward does not resign, then upon its resumption the Parliament should swiftly take all appropriate steps to protect its integrity,” he said.

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