By Brown S.B. No. 71
76R1399 JMC-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the creation of the 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 nine 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 terms of three members expiring 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 of
1-20 the commission to serve in that capacity at the will of the
1-21 governor. The presiding officer may vote on all matters before the
1-22 commission.
1-23 Sec. 35.005. QUALIFICATIONS. (a) Each member must be a
1-24 registered voter of the state.
2-1 (b) A member of the commission may not hold any other public
2-2 office or be an employee of any state department, agency, board, or
2-3 commission during the member's tenure on the commission.
2-4 (c) A person may not be a member of the commission or act as
2-5 the general counsel to the commission if the person is required to
2-6 register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 because of the person's
2-7 activities for compensation on behalf of a profession related to
2-8 the operation of the commission.
2-9 (d) Appointments to the commission shall be made without
2-10 regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
2-11 national origin of the appointees.
2-12 Sec. 35.006. REMOVAL. (a) It is a ground for removal from
2-13 the commission that a member:
2-14 (1) does not have at the time of appointment the
2-15 qualification required by Section 35.005(a);
2-16 (2) does not maintain during service on the commission
2-17 the qualification required by Section 35.005(a);
2-18 (3) violates the prohibition established by Section
2-19 35.005(b);
2-20 (4) is ineligible for membership under Section
2-21 35.005(c);
2-22 (5) cannot, because of illness or disability,
2-23 discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the
2-24 member's term; or
2-25 (6) is absent from more than half of the regularly
2-26 scheduled meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a
2-27 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 shall provide administrative support for the
3-7 commission. The commission is entitled to receive staff support,
3-8 meeting facilities, temporary work facilities, including computer,
3-9 telephone, reproduction, and facsimile equipment, available data,
3-10 and other resources from the Office of Court Administration as
3-11 necessary to carry out the commission's powers and duties.
3-12 (b) The Office of Court Administration shall grant all
3-13 reasonable requests for staff support and resources under this
3-14 section.
3-15 Sec. 35.008. COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT. (a) A member
3-16 of the commission may not receive compensation for the member's
3-17 service on the commission.
3-18 (b) The Office of Court Administration shall reimburse a
3-19 member for all actual and reasonable expenses incurred in the
3-20 exercise of powers and performance of duties under this chapter.
3-21 (c) A member shall follow the reimbursement procedures of
3-22 the Office of Court Administration.
3-23 (Sections 35.009-35.100 reserved for expansion
3-24 SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES
3-25 Sec. 35.101. MEETINGS. The commission shall meet at the
3-26 call of the presiding officer or at the request of a majority of
3-27 the members.
4-1 Sec. 35.102. BIENNIAL REPORTS. (a) Not later than December
4-2 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall make a biennial
4-3 report to the legislature. In the report, the commission shall
4-4 recommend the proper salaries to be paid by the state for all
4-5 justices and judges of the supreme court, the court of criminal
4-6 appeals, the courts of appeal, and the district courts.
4-7 (b) In recommending the proper salaries for all justices and
4-8 judges of the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, the
4-9 courts of appeal, and the district courts, the commission shall
4-10 consider the following factors:
4-11 (1) the skill and experience required of the
4-12 particular judgeship at issue;
4-13 (2) the time required of the particular judgeship at
4-14 issue;
4-15 (3) the value of compensable service performed by
4-16 justices and judges, as determined by reference to judicial
4-17 compensation in other states and the federal government;
4-18 (4) the value of comparable service performed in the
4-19 private sector, including private judging, arbitration, and
4-20 mediation;
4-21 (5) the compensation of attorneys in the private
4-22 sector;
4-23 (6) the cost of living and changes in the cost of
4-24 living;
4-25 (7) the compensation from the state presently received
4-26 by other public officials in the state, including:
4-27 (A) state constitutional officeholders;
5-1 (B) deans, presidents, and chancellors of the
5-2 public university systems;
5-3 (C) district attorneys; and
5-4 (D) chiefs of police, county attorneys, and city
5-5 attorneys in major metropolitan areas for which that information is
5-6 readily available;
5-7 (8) other factors that are normally or traditionally
5-8 taken into consideration in the determination of judicial
5-9 compensation; and
5-10 (9) most importantly, the level of overall
5-11 compensation adequate to attract the most highly qualified
5-12 individuals in the state, from a diversity of life and professional
5-13 experiences, to serve in the judiciary without unreasonable
5-14 economic hardship and with judicial independence unaffected by
5-15 financial concerns.
5-16 Sec. 35.103. BINDING NATURE OF REPORT. (a) The
5-17 recommendations made by the commission in its biennial report to
5-18 the legislature are binding and have full force of law on September
5-19 1 following the delivery of the report to the lieutenant governor,
5-20 the speaker of the house of representatives, and the members and
5-21 members-elect of the legislature, if neither the senate nor the
5-22 house of representatives, by majority vote, rejects the
5-23 recommendations before the enactment of the General Appropriations
5-24 Act for the subsequent biennium.
5-25 (b) The comptroller shall make payments for the recommended
5-26 salaries unless either the senate or the house of representatives
5-27 rejects the recommendations as provided by Subsection (a).
6-1 SECTION 2. Section 659.011, Government Code, is amended to
6-2 read as follows:
6-3 Sec. 659.011. SALARIES SET IN APPROPRIATIONS ACT. Except as
6-4 provided by Chapter 35, the [The] salaries of all state officers
6-5 and employees are in the amounts provided by the biennial
6-6 appropriations act.
6-7 SECTION 3. Section 659.012, Government Code, is repealed.
6-8 SECTION 4. In appointing the initial members of the Judicial
6-9 Compensation Commission, the governor shall appoint three persons
6-10 to terms expiring February 1, 2001, three persons to terms expiring
6-11 February 1, 2003, and three persons to terms expiring February 1,
6-12 2005.
6-13 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect on the date on which the
6-14 constitutional amendment proposed by __J.R. No. ___, 76th
6-15 Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, takes effect. If that
6-16 amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.
6-17 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
6-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.