Last September, a South Australian District Court jury found Bell, 51, guilty of 20 counts of theft and five aggravated counts of dishonest dealings, committed between 2009 and 2013.
Before sentencing submissions on Thursday, Bell's lawyer Nick Healy renewed his application for the sentencing process to be deferred, pending the outcome of Bell's appeal, which was heard by the Court of Appeal last week.
That court has reserved its decision.
The member for Mt Gambier has represented the South-East seat since 2014. He quit the Liberal Party and became an independent after he was charged in 2017.
Judge Rauf Soulio had previously said that proceeding to sentence "may well require (Bell) to be expelled from the house and a by-election conducted" .
Mr Healy told the court on Thursday that the SA Electoral Commission had indicated a by-election would cost up to $990,000 and the government would need to pay out $120,000 to Bell's staff.
It would also mean that "the good people of Mt Gambier" would need to vote three times within a 12-month period, because of forthcoming federal and state elections, he said.
Prosecutor Jemma Litster said it was entirely a matter for the parliament on what action it took and that the cost of the by-election was an "irrelevant consideration" to the process.
Judge Soulio said he would hear submissions on sentence and reserve his decision.
Bell was anxious and depressed and had "suffered considerably" through the court process, which had taken a "massive toll" on his relationship, Mr Healy said in his submission.
He had sold his family home and investment properties to fund his defence, had paid over $800,000 in legal fees, taken out personal loans and borrowed money from family.
"He will be forced into bankruptcy if jailed," Mr Healy said.
He described the offences as "dated" and there were "no physical victims".
Mr Healy lauded his client's "tireless efforts" for his community and what he had been able to achieve, "despite the trial, despite the verdicts, despite the enormous financial and personal pressure that he is under".
"Mr Bell has given back to his community in a very major way," he said.
"Your Honour will no doubt impose a term of imprisonment but I would invite Your Honour to find a good reason to suspend that."
Ms Litster said it was "beyond discretion" for a sentence to be suspended because of the seriousness of the offending, and the need for general deterrence for cases involving systemic fraudulent offending, a gross breach of trust and a large amount of money.
"The motive for theft was greed, realisation of an opportunity to access funds and acquiring them accordingly," she said.
An acknowledgement of wrongdoing was "absent", she said.
Bell abused his position as an Education Department employee to steal $430,000 from not-for-profits that helped vulnerable school children, and used it to fund home renovations, flights to Los Angeles and to offset his mortgage.
The maximum penalty for a theft charge is 10 years' jail, while an aggravated offence of dishonest dealings with documents carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
Outside court, Bell said "the process has to play out" and he would "respect the courts and the process".
"I'm hoping for a good outcome," he said.
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