What was the maximum salary a Texas district judge could be paid?

TX AG Opinion GA-0437: What was the maximum salary for a Texas district judge?

Plain-English summary

In 2005 the Texas Legislature, in a special session, raised judges' salaries through House Bill 11, codified at Government Code section 659.012 and effective December 1, 2005. The Texas Comptroller asked the Attorney General to calculate the lawful maximum amount payable to a state district judge under that statute. The answer was $140,000.

The statute does not state the district-judge maximum directly. It sets a base of at least $125,000 for a district judge but caps the judge's combined salary, from state and county sources (including pay for extrajudicial county services), at "$5,000 less than the salary provided for a justice of a court of appeals other than a chief justice." So the district-judge cap depends on the appeals-court figure, and the appeals-court figure depends in turn on the Supreme Court figure.

Following that chain, the opinion reasoned: an associate Supreme Court justice's salary is fixed at 120 percent of a district judge's salary, which is $150,000. An appeals court justice's combined salary is capped at $5,000 less than the Supreme Court figure, which is $145,000. And a district judge's combined salary is capped at $5,000 less than the appeals court figure, which is $140,000. The opinion applied the rule that a statute's plain language controls unless that would lead to absurd results or the text is ambiguous, and concluded the lawful maximum salary for a state district judge under section 659.012 was $140,000.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2006. 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.

Texas judicial salaries have been raised repeatedly since 2006, so the $140,000 maximum stated here is historical. The benchmark structure in section 659.012 (tying district judge, appeals court, and Supreme Court salaries together and capping combined state-and-county pay) has also been amended. Anyone needing a current judicial salary figure should consult the current version of section 659.012 and the current state budget, not this 2006 opinion.

Who this opinion affected (as of 2006)

The Comptroller and payroll officials: The opinion gave the requesting Comptroller a definite figure, $140,000, as the lawful maximum combined salary for a state district judge under the 2005 pay-raise statute.

Texas district judges: The opinion explained that a district judge's pay from all state and county sources, including compensation for extrajudicial county services, could not lawfully exceed $140,000 at that time.

Counties paying judges: The opinion described how county compensation for a district judge's extrajudicial services counted toward the combined-salary cap, so counties had to keep total pay within the limit.

Common questions

What was the cap on a Texas district judge's salary?
According to the opinion, $140,000, counting all state and county sources, including pay for extrajudicial county services.

Why wasn't the maximum stated directly in the statute?
The opinion explained the statute set the district-judge cap as $5,000 below the appeals court justice figure, which itself was $5,000 below the Supreme Court justice figure, so the maximum had to be calculated through that chain.

Did county pay count toward the limit?
Yes. The opinion noted that a district judge's combined salary from state and county sources, including compensation for extrajudicial services performed for the county, was subject to the cap.

How was the Supreme Court figure set?
The opinion pointed to the statute fixing an associate Supreme Court justice's salary at 120 percent of a district judge's salary, which came to $150,000.

Background and statutory framework

House Bill 11 (Act of Aug. 9, 2005, 79th Leg., 2d C.S., ch. 3, § 1, 2005 Tex. Gen. Laws 34, 35), codified at Government Code section 659.012, entitles a district judge to an annual state salary of at least $125,000 but caps the combined district-judge salary from state and county sources (including extrajudicial county service) at $5,000 less than the salary provided for a justice of a court of appeals other than a chief justice (Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 659.012(a)(1) (Vernon Supp. 2005)). District judges may receive county compensation for extrajudicial services (§ 32.001; e.g., serving on the county juvenile board under § 24.306, or establishing community supervision and corrections departments under § 76.002(a)). An appeals court justice (other than a chief justice) is entitled to 110 percent of a district judge's salary, capped at $5,000 less than a Supreme Court justice's salary (§ 659.012(a)(2); counties may add compensation under § 31.001), and an associate Supreme Court justice's salary is fixed at 120 percent of a district judge's salary (§ 659.012(a)(3)).

Construing the statute by its plain text, and looking beyond it only if that would lead to absurd results or the language is ambiguous (Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §§ 311.021, .023 (Vernon 2005); Albertson's Inc. v. Sinclair, 984 S.W.2d 958, 960 (Tex. 1999); Boykin v. State, 818 S.W.2d 782, 785 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991); Ex parte Russell, 60 S.W.3d 875, 876 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001)), the opinion computed: associate Supreme Court justice, $150,000 (120 percent of $125,000); appeals court justice maximum, $145,000 ($5,000 less); and district judge maximum, $140,000 ($5,000 less than the appeals court figure). The opinion concluded the lawful maximum salary for a state district judge under section 659.012 was $140,000.

Citations

Statutes:

• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §§ 659.012(a)(1)-(3), 32.001, 76.002(a) (Vernon Supp. 2005); §§ 31.001, 24.306 (Vernon 2004); §§ 311.021, .023 (Vernon 2005)

Cases:

• Albertson's Inc. v. Sinclair, 984 S.W.2d 958, 960 (Tex. 1999)
• Boykin v. State, 818 S.W.2d 782, 785 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991)
• Ex parte Russell, 60 S.W.3d 875, 876 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/greg-abbott/ga-0437
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2006/ga0437.pdf

Original opinion text

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

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
GREG ABBOTT

June 15, 2006

The Honorable Carole Keeton Strayhorn
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Post Office Box 13528
Austin, Texas 78711-3528

Opinion No. GA-0437

Re: Maximum salary payable to a district judge under section 659.012 of the Government Code (RQ-0419-GA)

Dear Comptroller Strayhorn:

In 2005, during the Second Called Special Session of the Seventy-ninth Legislature, Texas judges received a salary increase. You request our opinion on the lawful maximum amount payable to a state district judge under the provisions of the enacting legislation, House Bill 11.[1]

House Bill 11, which was codified at section 659.012 of the Government Code, was effective December 1, 2005, and provides that

a judge of a district court is entitled to an annual salary from the state 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[.]

TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 659.012(a)(1) (Vernon Supp. 2005); Act of Aug. 9, 2005, 79th Leg., 2d C.S., ch. 3, § 1, 2005 Tex. Gen. Laws 34, 35. In addition to the salary provided by the state pursuant to section 659.012, district judges may also receive additional compensation from counties for extrajudicial services they render to their county.[2] See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 32.001 (Vernon Supp. 2005). A similar scheme provides for the salary of justices of the courts of appeal other than a chief justice:

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 110 percent of the salary of a 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.

Id. § 659.012(a)(2). Chapter 31 of the Government Code authorizes counties to pay additional compensation to justices of the courts of appeal. See id. § 31.001.

To answer your question we must determine what "salary provided for a justice of a court of appeals" means. In construing section 659.012, we must give effect to the legislature's intent. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. §§ 311.021, .023 (Vernon 2005); Albertson's Inc. v. Sinclair, 984 S.W.2d 958, 960 (Tex. 1999). When interpreting a statute, courts look first to the literal text of the statute for its meaning and ordinarily give effect to that plain meaning. See Sinclair, 984 S.W.2d at 960; Boykin v. State, 818 S.W.2d 782, 785 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). A court will look beyond the literal language of the statute only when "the plain language of [the] statute would lead to absurd results or if the language is . . . ambiguous." Ex parte Russell, 60 S.W.3d 875, 876 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001) (quoting Boykin, 818 S.W.2d at 785-86).

Under section 659.012, the salary of a district judge is subject to the limitation that the judge's combined state and county salary may not exceed an "amount that is $5,000 less than the salary provided for a justice of a court of appeals other than a chief justice." TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 659.012(a)(1) (Vernon Supp. 2005) (emphasis added). The maximum salary provided for a justice of a court of appeals other than a chief justice is "$5,000 less than the salary provided for [an associate] justice of the supreme court." Id. § 659.012(a)(2). The statute provides that the fixed salary for associate supreme court justices is "120 percent of the salary of a district judge," or $150,000. Id. § 659.012(a)(3). Therefore the maximum salary of an appellate court justice is $145,000. See id. § 659.012(a)(2) ("the combined salary of a justice of the court of appeals . . . may not exceed the amount that is $5,000 less than the salary provided for a justice of the supreme court"). Accordingly, the maximum salary of a district court judge, which is limited to $5,000 less than the salary provided for a justice of a court of appeals other than a chief justice, is $140,000. See id. § 659.012(a)(1) ("the combined salary of a district judge . . . may not exceed the amount that is $5,000 less than the salary provided for a justice of a court of appeals").

SUMMARY

Under section 659.012 of the Government Code the maximum lawful amount payable to a state district judge is $140,000.

ELLEN L. WITT
Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel

NANCY S. FULLER
Chair, Opinion Committee

Charlotte M. Harper
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee

Footnotes

1. Letter from Honorable Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas, at 1 (Nov. 15, 2005) (on file with the Opinion Committee, also available at http://www.oag.state.tx.us).

2. For instance, a district judge may serve as a member of the county juvenile board, see TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 24.306 (Vernon 2004), and establish community supervision and corrections departments. See id. § 76.002(a) (Vernon Supp. 2005).