88R2178 JTZ-F
By: Schofield H.B. No. 437
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the annual base salaries of state judges and justices
and the abolishment of the Judicial Compensation Commission.
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 and subject to
Subsections (b) and (b-1) and Section 659.0121(c):
(1) a judge of a district court is entitled to an
annual base salary from the state in the amount equal to 82.5
percent of the state base salary of a justice of the supreme court
other than the chief justice [as set by the General Appropriations
Act in an amount equal to at least $140,000], except that the
combined base salary of a district judge 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 maximum combined base salary from all state and
county sources for a justice of a court of appeals other than a
chief justice as determined under this subsection;
(2) a justice of a court of appeals other than the
chief justice is entitled to an annual base salary from the state in
the amount equal to 91 [110] percent of the state base salary of a
justice of the supreme court other than the chief justice [district
judge as set by the General Appropriations Act], except that the
combined base 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
base salary for a justice of the supreme court other than the chief
justice as determined under this subsection;
(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 base salary from the state
that is the amount determined under Section 659.0121 [in the amount
equal to 120 percent of the state base salary of a district judge as
set by the General Appropriations Act]; and
(4) the chief justice or presiding judge of an
appellate court is entitled to an annual base salary from the state
in the amount equal to $2,500 more than the state base salary
provided for the other justices or judges of the court, except that
the combined base salary of the chief justice of a court of appeals
from all state and county sources may not exceed the amount equal to
$2,500 less than the base salary for a justice of the supreme court
other than the chief justice as determined under this subsection.
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 Legislative Budget Board shall:
(1) not later than December 31 of each even-numbered
year:
(A) calculate for each year of the succeeding
state fiscal biennium and in the manner specified by Subsection (b)
the annual base salary from the state for purposes of Section
659.012(a)(3) 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; and
(B) calculate all other annual salaries to be
paid by the state under Section 659.012 for each year of the
succeeding state fiscal biennium based on the amount calculated
under Paragraph (A); and
(2) include the amounts calculated under Subdivision
(1) in the next general appropriations bill that is prepared and
transmitted in accordance with Section 322.008.
(b) The annual base salary from the state the Legislative
Budget Board is required to calculate under Subsection (a)(1)(A) is
an amount equal to the sum of:
(1) the annual base salary from the state paid under
Section 659.012(a)(3) to 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 in the current state fiscal year; and
(2) the annual base salary described by Subdivision
(1) multiplied by the percentage change during the preceding two
state fiscal years in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers published by the United States Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, or, if that index is discontinued or
superseded, a similar index selected or calculated by the
comptroller.
(c) If the legislature determines that the estimated
revenue available for judicial salaries in a state fiscal biennium
is insufficient to satisfy the annual base salaries included in the
general appropriations bill as required by Subsection (a)(2) for
that biennium, the legislature may reduce the annual base salary
from the state to be paid under Section 659.012(a)(3) to a justice
of the supreme court other than the chief justice and a judge of the
court of criminal appeals other than the presiding judge during the
biennium to an amount that, when the salaries of the justices and
judges are added to all other annual base salaries calculated in
accordance with Section 659.012, results in a total of judicial
salaries under that section that is within the estimated revenue
available.
SECTION 3. Chapter 35, Government Code, is repealed.
SECTION 4. (a) The Judicial Compensation Commission is
abolished on the effective date of this Act.
(b) The Legislative Budget Board shall:
(1) make the initial salary calculations required by
Section 659.0121(a)(1), Government Code, as added by this Act, not
later than December 31, 2024; and
(2) include the salaries calculated as required by
Subdivision (1) of this subsection in the general appropriations
bill for the state fiscal biennium beginning September 1, 2025,
that is prepared and transmitted in accordance with Section
322.008, Government Code.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.