Schofield Bill Ties Judges’ Pay To Inflation Starting 2027

The text as introduced · 754 words

89R1125 JTZ-D

By: Schofield
H.B. No. 2322

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the annual base salary from the state of a district

judge.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 659.012, Government Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (b-2) and (b-3) to

read as follows:

(a) Notwithstanding Section 659.011 and subject to

Subsections (b) , [ and ] (b-1) , and (b-2) :

(1) a judge of a district court or a division of the

business court is entitled to an annual base salary from the state

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 or judge of a division of the business court 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) except as provided by Subdivision (3), 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 110 percent

of the state base salary of a 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 as determined under this subsection;

(3) a justice of the Court of Appeals for the Fifteenth

Court of Appeals District other than the chief justice is entitled

to an annual base salary from the state in the amount equal to

$5,000 less than 120 percent of the state base salary of a district

judge as set by the General Appropriations Act;

(4) 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

in the amount equal to 120 percent of the state base salary of a

district judge as set by the General Appropriations Act; and

(5) 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

as determined under this subsection.

(b-2) The annual base salary from the state to which a judge

of a district court or a division of the business court is entitled

under Subsection (a)(1) for each year of a state fiscal biennium is

the amount equal to the sum of:

(1) the annual base salary from the state under

Subsection (a)(1) paid to a judge of a district court or a division

of the business court under that subdivision in the preceding state

fiscal biennium; and

(2) subject to Subsection (b-3), the annual base

salary described by Subdivision (1) multiplied by the average

percentage change during the preceding state fiscal biennium 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 the

comptroller selects or uses for calculation.

(b-3) For purposes of Subsection (b-2)(2), if the average

percentage change 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 the comptroller selects or uses for

calculation, during the period prescribed by that subdivision

equals zero or less, the percentage change is calculated as zero.

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies

beginning with the state fiscal biennium beginning September 1,

2027.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.