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" means
1-8 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 terms of three members expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered
1-13 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 of
1-19 the commission to serve in that capacity at the will of the
1-20 governor. The presiding officer may vote on all matters before the
1-21 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 be a member of the commission or act as
2-4 the general counsel to the commission if the person is required to
2-5 register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 because of the person's
2-6 activities for compensation on behalf of a profession related to
2-7 the operation of the commission.
2-8 (d) Appointments to the commission shall be made without
2-9 regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
2-10 national origin of the appointees.
2-11 Sec. 35.006. REMOVAL. (a) It is a ground for removal from
2-12 the commission that a member:
2-13 (1) does not have at the time of appointment the
2-14 qualification required by Section 35.005(a);
2-15 (2) does not maintain during service on the commission
2-16 the qualification required by Section 35.005(a);
2-17 (3) violates the prohibition established by Section
2-18 35.005(b);
2-19 (4) is ineligible for membership under Section
2-20 35.005(c);
2-21 (5) cannot, because of illness or disability,
2-22 discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the
2-23 member's term; or
2-24 (6) is absent from more than half of the regularly
2-25 scheduled meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a
2-26 calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote of the
3-1 commission.
3-2 (b) The validity of an action of the commission is not
3-3 affected by the fact that it is taken when a ground for removal of
3-4 a commission member exists.
3-5 Sec. 35.007. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. (a) The Office of
3-6 Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall provide
3-7 administrative support for the commission. The commission is
3-8 entitled to receive staff support, meeting facilities, temporary
3-9 work facilities, including computer, telephone, reproduction, and
3-10 facsimile equipment, available data, and other resources from the
3-11 Office of Court Administration as necessary to carry out the
3-12 commission's powers and duties.
3-13 (b) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
3-14 System shall grant all reasonable requests for staff support and
3-15 resources under this section.
3-16 Sec. 35.008. COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT. (a) A member
3-17 of the commission may not receive compensation for the member's
3-18 service on the commission.
3-19 (b) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
3-20 System shall reimburse a member for all actual and reasonable
3-21 expenses incurred in the exercise of powers and performance of
3-22 duties under this chapter.
3-23 (c) A member shall follow the reimbursement procedures of
3-24 the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System.
4-1 (Sections 35.009 to 35.100 reserved for expansion
4-2 SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES
4-3 Sec. 35.101. MEETINGS. The commission shall meet at the
4-4 call of the presiding officer or at the request of a majority of
4-5 the members.
4-6 Sec. 35.102. BIENNIAL REPORTS. (a) Not later than December
4-7 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall make a biennial
4-8 report to the legislature. In the report, the commission shall
4-9 recommend the proper salaries to be paid by the state for all
4-10 justices and judges of the supreme court, the court of criminal
4-11 appeals, the courts of appeals, and the district courts.
4-12 (b) In recommending the proper salaries for all justices and
4-13 judges of the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, the
4-14 courts of appeals, and the district courts, the commission shall
4-15 consider the following factors:
4-16 (1) the skill and experience required of the
4-17 particular judgeship at issue;
4-18 (2) the time required of the particular judgeship at
4-19 issue;
4-20 (3) the value of compensable service performed by
4-21 justices and judges, as determined by reference to judicial
4-22 compensation in other states and the federal government;
4-23 (4) the value of comparable service performed in the
4-24 private sector, including private judging, arbitration, and
4-25 mediation;
4-26 (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,
5-26 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 enactment of the General Appropriations
6-4 Act for the subsequent biennium.
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 Judicial
6-16 Compensation Commission, the governor shall appoint three persons
6-17 to terms expiring February 1, 2001, three persons to terms expiring
6-18 February 1, 2003, and three persons to terms expiring February 1,
6-19 2005.
6-20 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect on the date on which the
6-21 constitutional amendment proposed by S.J.R. No. 10, 76th
6-22 Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, takes effect. If that
6-23 amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.
6-24 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
6-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 71 passed the Senate on
April 15, 1999, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 71 passed the House on
May 26, 1999, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor