By Brown S.B. No. 328
75R1162 SAW-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the creation of a judicial compensation commission.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 2, Government Code, is amended
1-5 by adding Chapter 35 to read as follows:
1-6 CHAPTER 35. JUDICIAL COMPENSATION COMMISSION
1-7 SUBCHAPTER A. ORGANIZATION
1-8 Sec. 35.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "commission"
1-9 means the Judicial Compensation Commission.
1-10 Sec. 35.002. MEMBERSHIP; TERMS. The commission consists of
1-11 three members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent
1-12 of the senate. Members serve for staggered terms of six years with
1-13 the term of one member expiring on February 1 of each odd-numbered
1-14 year.
1-15 Sec. 35.003. VACANCY. In the event of a vacancy, the
1-16 governor shall appoint a replacement to fill the unexpired portion
1-17 of the term.
1-18 Sec. 35.004. PRESIDING OFFICER. The governor shall
1-19 designate a member of the commission as the presiding officer to
1-20 serve in that capacity at the pleasure of the governor. The
1-21 presiding officer may vote on all matters before the commission.
1-22 Sec. 35.005. QUALIFICATIONS. (a) Each member must be a
1-23 registered voter of the state.
1-24 (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.
2-26 (b) The validity of an action of the commission is not
2-27 affected by the fact that it was taken while a ground for removal
3-1 of a member of the commission existed.
3-2 Sec. 35.007. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. (a) The Office of
3-3 Court Administration shall provide administrative support for the
3-4 commission. The commission is entitled to receive staff support,
3-5 meeting facilities, temporary work facilities, including computer,
3-6 telephone, reproduction, and facsimile equipment, available data,
3-7 and other resources from the Office of Court Administration as
3-8 necessary to carry out the commission's powers and duties.
3-9 (b) The Office of Court Administration shall grant all
3-10 reasonable requests for staff support and resources under this
3-11 section.
3-12 Sec. 35.008. COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT. (a) A member
3-13 of the commission may not receive compensation for the member's
3-14 service on the commission.
3-15 (b) The Office of Court Administration shall reimburse a
3-16 member for all actual and reasonable expenses incurred in the
3-17 exercise of powers and performance of duties under this chapter.
3-18 (c) A member shall follow the reimbursement procedures of
3-19 the Office of Court Administration.
3-20 (Sections 35.009-35.100 reserved for expansion
3-21 SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES
3-22 Sec. 35.101. MEETINGS. The commission shall meet, either in
3-23 person or by teleconference, at the call of the presiding officer
3-24 or at the request of a majority of the members.
3-25 Sec. 35.102. INVESTIGATIONS. Each member of the commission
3-26 who is a member in good standing of the State Bar of Texas, and
3-27 each member of the State Bar of Texas who is designated by the
4-1 commission to serve, on a pro bono basis, as counsel to the
4-2 commission, has the power to administer oaths, to take testimony,
4-3 and to compel the attendance of witnesses located in this state and
4-4 the production of all books, papers, records, or documents
4-5 reasonably considered by the member or the counsel to be material
4-6 or pertinent to any subject within the scope of the studies and
4-7 investigations of the commission.
4-8 Sec. 35.103. BIENNIAL REPORTS. (a) Not later than December
4-9 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall make a biennial
4-10 report to the legislature. In the report, the commission shall
4-11 recommend the proper salaries to be paid by the state for all
4-12 justices and judges of the supreme court, the court of criminal
4-13 appeals, the courts of appeal, and the district courts.
4-14 (b) In recommending the proper salaries for all justices and
4-15 judges of the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, the
4-16 courts of appeal, and the district courts, the commission shall
4-17 consider the following factors:
4-18 (1) the skill and experience required of the
4-19 particular judgeship at issue;
4-20 (2) the time required of the particular judgeship at
4-21 issue;
4-22 (3) the value of compensable service performed by
4-23 justices and judges, as determined by reference to judicial
4-24 compensation in other states and the federal government;
4-25 (4) the value of comparable service performed in the
4-26 private sector, including private judging, arbitration, and
4-27 mediation;
5-1 (5) the compensation of attorneys in the private
5-2 sector;
5-3 (6) the cost of living and changes in the cost of
5-4 living;
5-5 (7) the overall compensation presently received by
5-6 other public officials in the state, including:
5-7 (A) state constitutional officeholders;
5-8 (B) deans, presidents, and chancellors of the
5-9 public university systems;
5-10 (C) district attorneys; and
5-11 (D) chiefs of police, county attorneys, and city
5-12 attorneys in major metropolitan areas for which that information is
5-13 readily available;
5-14 (8) other factors that are normally or traditionally
5-15 taken into consideration in the determination of judicial
5-16 compensation; and
5-17 (9) most importantly, the level of overall
5-18 compensation adequate to attract the most highly qualified
5-19 individuals in the state, from a diversity of life and professional
5-20 experiences, to serve in the judiciary without unreasonable
5-21 economic hardship and with judicial independence unaffected by
5-22 financial concerns.
5-23 Sec. 35.104. BINDING NATURE OF REPORT. (a) The
5-24 recommendations made by the commission in its biennial report to
5-25 the legislature are binding and have full force of law on September
5-26 1 following the delivery of the report to the lieutenant governor,
5-27 the speaker of the house of representatives, and the members and
6-1 members-elect of the legislature, if neither the senate nor the
6-2 house of representatives, by majority vote, rejects the
6-3 recommendations before the 180th day after the date on which the
6-4 report is delivered.
6-5 (b) The comptroller shall make payments for the recommended
6-6 salaries unless either the senate or the house of representatives
6-7 rejects the recommendations as provided by Subsection (a).
6-8 SECTION 2. Section 659.011, Government Code, is amended to
6-9 read as follows:
6-10 Sec. 659.011. SALARIES SET IN APPROPRIATIONS ACT. Except as
6-11 provided by Chapter 35, the [The] salaries of all state officers
6-12 and employees are in the amounts provided by the biennial
6-13 appropriations act.
6-14 SECTION 3. Section 659.012, Government Code, is repealed.
6-15 SECTION 4. In appointing the initial members of the
6-16 commission, the governor shall appoint one person to a term
6-17 expiring February 1, 1999, one person to a term expiring February
6-18 1, 2001, and one person to a term expiring February 1, 2003.
6-19 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect on the date on which the
6-20 constitutional amendment proposed by __J.R. No. ___, 75th
6-21 Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, takes effect. If that
6-22 amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.
6-23 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
6-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.