Bill Text: TX SB1938 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the method of calculating the salary of state judges.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-24 - Co-author authorized [SB1938 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-SB1938-Introduced.html
2017S0456-1 03/09/17 | ||
By: Hughes | S.B. No. 1938 |
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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 [ |
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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 [ |
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court other than the chief justice [ |
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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 [ |
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(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. |