Who decides how much a county court reporter in Texas gets paid?

Plain-English summary

A Denton County district attorney told the Attorney General that a county-court-at-law judge had appointed his own court reporter and set her salary without the approval of the county commissioners court, and asked who actually had the authority to set court reporters' salaries in the county courts of law. In particular, he asked whether Local Government Code section 152.905 let the district judges set the pay of all court reporters or only district court reporters.

The Attorney General first explained what section 152.905 does and does not do. That section applies to the compensation of the county auditor, assistant auditors, and court reporters, and it requires the district judge or judges to hold a public hearing, where interested parties and citizens can be heard, before setting the annual compensation. But it is only a procedure. It does not itself give district judges the power to set court reporters' salaries; it sets out the steps to follow when other law gives them that power. For court reporters, the source of that power is Government Code section 52.051, which lets a judge set the salary of an official district court reporter. That section says nothing about reporters in the county courts at law.

Tracing the statutes that govern the Denton County courts at law, the opinion explained that the older statute on point (a section of V.T.C.S. article 1970-352b) had let each county-court-at-law judge appoint a reporter "to be compensated as prescribed by the Commissioners Court of Denton County." When the Legislature recodified that law into the Government Code in 1987, the revisor dropped the compensation language as surplus, noting that article 3912k already required the commissioners court to set the salaries of county employees. Article 3912k's first section became Local Government Code section 152.011, which requires the commissioners court to set the compensation of county and precinct officers and employees who are paid wholly from county funds. Because the county-court-at-law reporters were county employees paid wholly from county funds, the opinion concluded the Legislature had placed the duty to set their compensation on the Denton County Commissioners Court.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1992. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here. The statutes discussed here have been amended and renumbered since 1992, so confirm the current Government Code and Local Government Code provisions before relying on any procedure described.

Background and statutory framework

Local Government Code section 152.905 applied to the compensation of the county auditor, assistant auditors, and court reporters, and required the district judge or judges to hold a public hearing, at which interested parties and citizens could be heard, before setting their annual compensation. The opinion read that section as procedural only: it told district judges how to proceed when other law authorized them to set a particular salary, but it conferred no salary-setting authority on its own.

The authority to set a court reporter's salary came from Government Code section 52.051, under which an official district court reporter is paid a salary set by the order of the judge of the court. That provision reached only district court reporters and said nothing about official reporters in county courts at law. Statutes governing specific county courts at law had been codified in Chapter 25 of the Government Code, with sections 25.0631 and 25.0632 addressing the Denton County courts at law. See Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, § 4.01. Before the 1987 non-substantive recodification, V.T.C.S. article 1970-352b governed those courts; its section 4(b) let each Denton County court-at-law judge appoint a certified court reporter "to be compensated as prescribed by the Commissioners Court of Denton County," paid from the county general fund. See Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 842, § 4(b).

The revisor's note to Government Code section 25.0632 explained that the revised law omitted section 4(b) of the source law because section 52.041 required the appointment of an official court reporter and article 3912k required the commissioners court to set the salaries of county employees. Section 1 of V.T.C.S. article 3912k had been recodified as Local Government Code section 152.011, see Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, which requires the commissioners court of a county to set the amount of compensation, office and travel expenses, and other allowances for county and precinct officers and employees paid wholly from county funds. See also Local Gov't Code §§ 152.031 (county auditor's salary), 84.021 (salary of assistants to the county auditor). Because the county-court-at-law reporters were county employees paid wholly from county funds, the opinion concluded the commissioners court was required to set their compensation. The opinion noted a footnote distinction drawn in Gill-Massar v. Dallas County, 781 S.W.2d 614, 616 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1989, no writ), which reasoned that district court employees are state rather than county employees for purposes of Local Government Code section 152.011; without commenting on the soundness of that reasoning, the opinion observed that the reporters here were employed by county courts, not district courts.

Common questions

Who sets a Denton County court-at-law reporter's salary?
The opinion concluded it was the Denton County Commissioners Court, because the reporter is a county employee paid wholly from county funds and Local Government Code section 152.011 puts that duty on the commissioners court.

Can the judge who appoints the reporter also set the pay?
Not for county-court-at-law reporters, under this opinion. The judge's salary-setting power under Government Code section 52.051 reached only district court reporters. The appointment and the salary were separate questions.

What does Local Government Code section 152.905 actually do?
The opinion read it as a procedure, not a grant of authority. It requires a public hearing before district judges set the compensation of the auditor, assistant auditors, and court reporters whose salaries other law lets them set. It does not by itself give district judges power over court-reporter pay.

Citations

• Local Gov't Code § 152.905
• Gov't Code § 52.051
• Gov't Code § 52.041
• Gov't Code § 25.0631
• Gov't Code § 25.0632
• Gov't Code § 1.001
• V.T.C.S. art. 1970-352b
• V.T.C.S. art. 3912k
• Local Gov't Code § 152.011
• Local Gov't Code § 152.031
• Local Gov't Code § 84.021
• Gill-Massar v. Dallas County, 781 S.W.2d 614 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1989, no writ)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/dan-morales/dm-0128
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1992/dm0128.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

Office of the Attorney General
State of Texas

DAN MORALES
ATTORNEY GENERAL

June 17, 1992

Honorable Bruce Isaacks
Criminal District Attorney
Denton County
P. O. Box 2844
Denton, Texas 76202

Opinion No. DM-128

Re: Who has the authority to set the compensation of official court reporters in the county courts of law in Denton County (RQ-195)

Dear Mr. Isaacks:

You have asked for an opinion concerning the setting of the salary of the court reporters in the county courts of law in Denton County. You inform us that a county court of law judge appointed his own court reporter and set her salary without the approval of the county commissioners court. You wish to know who has the authority to set the salary for court reporters in the county courts of law in Denton County. In this regard, you ask whether Local Government Code section 152.905 "allows District Judges to set compensation for all court reporters or just district court reporters."

We will first resolve your inquiry about the scope and effect of Local Government Code section 152.905. That section provides the following:

  (a) This section applies only to the compensation of the county auditor, assistant auditors, and court reporters.

  (b) Before setting the amount of annual compensation of the auditor, assistant auditors, and court reporters, the district judge or judges shall hold a public hearing on the matter at which parties in interest and citizens have an opportunity to be heard.

It is apparent that section 152.905 does not constitute authority for the setting of court reporters' salaries by the district judges. Rather, it sets out the procedures to be followed when district judges set the salaries of court personnel that other law gives them the authority to set. In the case of court reporters, Government Code section 52.051 provides that authority, but only for reporters in district court. Gov't Code § 52.051(a) ("An official district court reporter shall be paid a salary set by the order of the judge of the court . . . ."). This section does not address the setting of compensation for official court reporters in county courts at law.

Statutes governing specific county courts at law are now codified at Chapter 25 of the Government Code. Sections 25.0631 and 25.0632 address the county courts at law of Denton County. See Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, § 4.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Prior to the non-substantive recodification in 1987, V.T.C.S. article 1970-352b governed these courts. Section 4(b) of that statute provided the following:

  The judge of each County Court at Law No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 of Denton County may appoint an official court reporter, who shall be a duly certified shorthand court reporter under the law and is to be compensated as prescribed by the Commissioners Court of Denton County, to be paid by the county treasurer out of the general fund of the county.

See Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 842, § 4(b), eff. Sept. 1, 1985. The revisor's note to Government Code section 25.0632 explains that

  (19) The revised law omits Section 4(b) of the source law, relating to the appointment and compensation of the court reporter. Section 52.041 requires the appointment of an official court reporter. Article 3912k requires the commissioners court to set the salary of county employees.

Section 1 of V.T.C.S. article 3912k was recodified as Local Government Code section 152.011 in 1987. See Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. That section reads as follows:

  The commissioners court of a county shall set the amount of the compensation, office and travel expenses, and all other allowances for county and precinct officers and employees who are paid wholly from county funds.

The court reporters at issue are county employees paid wholly from county funds. We conclude that the legislature has mandated that the commissioners court of Denton County shall set the compensation of official court reporters employed in the county courts of law of Denton County.

                               SUMMARY

      The Commissioners Court of Denton County has the authority to set the compensation of official court reporters in the Denton County Courts at Law.

                                            DAN MORALES
                                            Attorney General of Texas

WILL PRYOR
First Assistant Attorney General

MARY KELLER
Deputy Assistant Attorney General

RENEA HICKS
Special Assistant Attorney General

MADELEINE B. JOHNSON
Chair, Opinion Committee

Prepared by Faith S. Steinberg
Assistant Attorney General

Footnote: See also Local Gov't Code §§ 152.031 (county auditor's salary), 84.021 (salary of assistants to county auditor). See Gov't Code § 1.001 (Government Code intended as non-substantive recodification of existing law). See Gill-Massar v. Dallas County, 781 S.W.2d 614, 616 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1989, no writ) (reasoning, in dicta, that district court employees are state rather than county employees for purposes of the Local Government Code section 152.011, "because they are covered in the Government Code rather than the Local Government Code"); without commenting on the soundness of the court's argument, we note that the court reporters in the present case are employed by county courts, not district courts.