2017S0456-1 03/09/17
By: Hughes S.B. No. 1938
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the method of calculating the salary of state judges.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 659.012(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding Section 659.011:
(1) a judge of a district court is entitled to an
annual salary from the state that is equal to 82.5 percent of the
salary of a justice of the supreme court other than the chief
justice [of at least $125,000], except that the combined salary of a
district judge from state and county sources, including
compensation for any extrajudicial services performed on behalf of
the county, may not exceed the amount that is $5,000 less than the
salary provided for a justice of a court of appeals other than a
chief justice;
(2) a justice of a court of appeals other than the
chief justice is entitled to an annual salary from the state that is
equal to 91 [110] percent of the salary of a justice of the supreme
court other than the chief justice [district judge], except that
the combined salary of a justice of the court of appeals other than
the chief justice from all state and county sources, including
compensation for any extrajudicial services performed on behalf of
the county, may not exceed the amount that is $5,000 less than the
salary provided for a justice of the supreme court;
(3) a justice of the supreme court other than the chief
justice or a judge of the court of criminal appeals other than the
presiding judge is entitled to an annual salary from the state that
is the amount as determined by Section 659.0121 [equal to 120
percent of the salary of a district judge]; and
(4) the chief justice or presiding judge of an
appellate court is entitled to an annual salary from the state that
is $2,500 more than the salary provided for the other justices or
judges of the court, except that the combined salary of the chief
justice of a court of appeals may not exceed the amount that is
$2,500 less than the salary provided for a justice of the supreme
court.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 659, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 659.0121 to read as follows:
Sec. 659.0121. DETERMINATION OF JUDICIAL SALARIES.
(a) The salary of a justice of the supreme court other than the
chief justice or a judge of the court of criminal appeals other than
the presiding judge is equal to the sum of:
(1) one-third of the average salary, on January 1, of
justices, excluding chief justices, on the highest appellate courts
of the nine most populous states, as determined by the decennial
census, not including Texas;
(2) one-third of the salary, on January 1, of a judge
of a United States court of appeals; and
(3) one-third of the average starting base salary, on
January 1, of first-year associate attorneys employed with the five
private law firms with the largest number of attorneys licensed in
this state.
(b) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
System shall collect and provide to the Legislative Budget Board
the information described by Subsections (a)(1) and (2) not later
than February 1 of each year.
(c) The state bar shall collect and provide to the
Legislative Budget Board the information described by Subsection
(a)(3) not later than February 1 of each year.
(d) The Legislative Budget Board shall calculate the salary
under Subsection (a) using the information received under
Subsections (b) and (c) and notify the comptroller of the amount not
later than March 1 of each year.
(e) On October 1 of each year, the comptroller shall adjust
all salaries paid under Section 659.012 based on the amount
provided by the Legislative Budget Board under Subsection (d).
(f) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the salary of a justice
of the supreme court other than the chief justice or a judge of the
court of criminal appeals other than the presiding judge may not
increase annually by more than the greater of:
(1) four percent; and
(2) the percentage by which the Consumer Price Index
for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
of the United States Department of Labor, or its successor index,
increased during the previous calendar year.
(g) The comptroller shall publish in the Texas Register, not
later than May 1 of each year, a list of all salaries to be paid
under Section 659.012 effective October 1.
SECTION 3. Effective August 31, 2021, Chapter 35,
Government Code, is repealed.
SECTION 4. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act takes effect January 1, 2019.