By: Brown, et al. S.B. No. 328
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the creation of the Judicial Compensation Commission.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 2, Government Code, is amended
1-4 by adding Chapter 35 to read as follows:
1-5 CHAPTER 35. JUDICIAL COMPENSATION COMMISSION
1-6 SUBCHAPTER A. ORGANIZATION
1-7 Sec. 35.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "commission"
1-8 means the Judicial Compensation Commission.
1-9 Sec. 35.002. MEMBERSHIP; TERMS. The commission consists of
1-10 nine members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent
1-11 of the senate. Members serve for staggered terms of six years with
1-12 the term of three members expiring on February 1 of each
1-13 odd-numbered year.
1-14 Sec. 35.003. VACANCY. In the event of a vacancy, the
1-15 governor shall appoint a replacement to fill the unexpired portion
1-16 of the term.
1-17 Sec. 35.004. PRESIDING OFFICER. The governor shall
1-18 designate a member of the commission as the presiding officer to
1-19 serve in that capacity at the pleasure of the governor. The
1-20 presiding officer may vote on all matters before the commission.
1-21 Sec. 35.005. QUALIFICATIONS. (a) Each member must be a
1-22 registered voter of the state.
1-23 (b) A member of the commission may not hold any other public
2-1 office or be an employee of any state department, agency, board, or
2-2 commission during the member's tenure on the commission.
2-3 (c) A person may not serve as a member of the commission or
2-4 act as the general counsel to the commission if the person is
2-5 required to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 because of the
2-6 person's activities for compensation on behalf of a profession
2-7 related to the operation of the commission.
2-8 (d) The governor shall make appointments to the commission
2-9 without regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age,
2-10 or national origin of the appointees.
2-11 Sec. 35.006. REMOVAL. (a) It is grounds for removal from
2-12 the commission that a member:
2-13 (1) does not have at the time of appointment the
2-14 qualifications required by Section 35.005;
2-15 (2) does not maintain during service on the commission
2-16 the qualifications required by Section 35.005;
2-17 (3) violates a prohibition established by Section
2-18 35.005(b) or (c);
2-19 (4) cannot because of illness or disability discharge
2-20 the member's duties for a substantial part of the term for which
2-21 the member is appointed; or
2-22 (5) is absent from more than half of the regularly
2-23 scheduled meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a
2-24 calendar year unless the absence is excused by majority vote of the
2-25 commission.
3-1 (b) The validity of an action of the commission is not
3-2 affected by the fact that it was taken while a ground for removal
3-3 of a member of the commission existed.
3-4 Sec. 35.007. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. (a) The Office of
3-5 Court Administration shall provide administrative support for the
3-6 commission. The commission is entitled to receive staff support,
3-7 meeting facilities, temporary work facilities, including computer,
3-8 telephone, reproduction, and facsimile equipment, available data,
3-9 and other resources from the Office of Court Administration as
3-10 necessary to carry out the commission's powers and duties.
3-11 (b) The Office of Court Administration shall grant all
3-12 reasonable requests for staff support and resources under this
3-13 section.
3-14 Sec. 35.008. COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT. (a) A member
3-15 of the commission may not receive compensation for the member's
3-16 service on the commission.
3-17 (b) The Office of Court Administration shall reimburse a
3-18 member for all actual and reasonable expenses incurred in the
3-19 exercise of powers and performance of duties under this chapter.
3-20 (c) A member shall follow the reimbursement procedures of
3-21 the Office of Court Administration.
3-22 Sec. 35.009. OPEN MEETINGS AND OPEN RECORDS. The commission
3-23 is subject to Chapters 551 and 552.
3-24 (Sections 35.010 to 35.100 reserved for expansion
4-1 SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES
4-2 Sec. 35.101. MEETINGS. The commission shall meet at the
4-3 call of the presiding officer or at the request of a majority of
4-4 the members.
4-5 Sec. 35.102. BIENNIAL REPORTS. (a) Not later than December
4-6 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall make a biennial
4-7 report to the legislature. In the report, the commission shall
4-8 recommend the proper salaries to be paid by the state for all
4-9 justices and judges of the supreme court, the court of criminal
4-10 appeals, the courts of appeal, and the district courts.
4-11 (b) In recommending the proper salaries for all justices and
4-12 judges of the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, the
4-13 courts of appeal, and the district courts, the commission shall
4-14 consider the following factors:
4-15 (1) the skill and experience required of the
4-16 particular judgeship at issue;
4-17 (2) the time required of the particular judgeship at
4-18 issue;
4-19 (3) the value of compensable service performed by
4-20 justices and judges, as determined by reference to judicial
4-21 compensation in other states and the federal government;
4-22 (4) the value of comparable service performed in the
4-23 private sector, including private judging, arbitration, and
4-24 mediation;
4-25 (5) the compensation of attorneys in the private
5-1 sector;
5-2 (6) the cost of living and changes in the cost of
5-3 living;
5-4 (7) the compensation from the state presently received
5-5 by other public officials in the state, including:
5-6 (A) state constitutional officeholders;
5-7 (B) deans, presidents, and chancellors of the
5-8 public university systems;
5-9 (C) district attorneys; and
5-10 (D) chiefs of police, county attorneys, and city
5-11 attorneys in major metropolitan areas for which that information is
5-12 readily available;
5-13 (8) other factors that are normally or traditionally
5-14 taken into consideration in the determination of judicial
5-15 compensation; and
5-16 (9) most importantly, the level of overall
5-17 compensation adequate to attract the most highly qualified
5-18 individuals in the state, from a diversity of life and professional
5-19 experiences, to serve in the judiciary without unreasonable
5-20 economic hardship and with judicial independence unaffected by
5-21 financial concerns.
5-22 Sec. 35.103. BINDING NATURE OF REPORT. (a) The
5-23 recommendations made by the commission in its biennial report to
5-24 the legislature are binding and have full force of law on September
5-25 1 following the delivery of the report to the lieutenant governor,
6-1 the speaker of the house of representatives, and the members and
6-2 members-elect of the legislature, if neither the senate nor the
6-3 house of representatives, by majority vote, rejects the
6-4 recommendations before the adoption of the General Appropriations
6-5 Act for the subsequent biennium.
6-6 (b) The comptroller shall make payments for the recommended
6-7 salaries unless either the senate or the house of representatives
6-8 rejects the recommendations as provided by Subsection (a).
6-9 SECTION 2. Section 659.011, Government Code, is amended to
6-10 read as follows:
6-11 Sec. 659.011. SALARIES SET IN APPROPRIATIONS ACT. Except as
6-12 provided by Chapter 35, the [The] salaries of all state officers
6-13 and employees are in the amounts provided by the biennial
6-14 appropriations act.
6-15 SECTION 3. Section 659.012, Government Code, is repealed.
6-16 SECTION 4. In appointing the initial members of the Judicial
6-17 Compensation Commission, the governor shall appoint three persons
6-18 to a term expiring February 1, 1999, three persons to a term
6-19 expiring February 1, 2001, and three persons to a term expiring
6-20 February 1, 2003.
6-21 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect on the date on which the
6-22 constitutional amendment proposed by __J.R. No. ___, 75th
6-23 Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, takes effect. If that
6-24 amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.
6-25 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
7-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.