1-1 By: Brown S.B. No. 71
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed December 2, 1998; January 26, 1999,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Finance;
1-4 March 11, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11,
1-5 Nays 0; March 11, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the creation of the Judicial Compensation Commission.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 2, Government Code, is amended
1-11 by adding Chapter 35 to read as follows:
1-12 CHAPTER 35. JUDICIAL COMPENSATION COMMISSION
1-13 SUBCHAPTER A. ORGANIZATION
1-14 Sec. 35.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "commission"
1-15 means the Judicial Compensation Commission.
1-16 Sec. 35.002. MEMBERSHIP; TERMS. The commission consists of
1-17 nine members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent
1-18 of the senate. Members serve for staggered terms of six years with
1-19 the terms of three members expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered
1-20 year.
1-21 Sec. 35.003. VACANCY. In the event of a vacancy, the
1-22 governor shall appoint a replacement to fill the unexpired portion
1-23 of the term.
1-24 Sec. 35.004. PRESIDING OFFICER. The governor shall
1-25 designate a member of the commission as the presiding officer of
1-26 the commission to serve in that capacity at the will of the
1-27 governor. The presiding officer may vote on all matters before the
1-28 commission.
1-29 Sec. 35.005. QUALIFICATIONS. (a) Each member must be a
1-30 registered voter of the state.
1-31 (b) A member of the commission may not hold any other public
1-32 office or be an employee of any state department, agency, board, or
1-33 commission during the member's tenure on the commission.
1-34 (c) A person may not be a member of the commission or act as
1-35 the general counsel to the commission if the person is required to
1-36 register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 because of the person's
1-37 activities for compensation on behalf of a profession related to
1-38 the operation of the commission.
1-39 (d) Appointments to the commission shall be made without
1-40 regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
1-41 national origin of the appointees.
1-42 Sec. 35.006. REMOVAL. (a) It is a ground for removal from
1-43 the commission that a member:
1-44 (1) does not have at the time of appointment the
1-45 qualification required by Section 35.005(a);
1-46 (2) does not maintain during service on the commission
1-47 the qualification required by Section 35.005(a);
1-48 (3) violates the prohibition established by Section
1-49 35.005(b);
1-50 (4) is ineligible for membership under Section
1-51 35.005(c);
1-52 (5) cannot, because of illness or disability,
1-53 discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the
1-54 member's term; or
1-55 (6) is absent from more than half of the regularly
1-56 scheduled meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a
1-57 calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote of the
1-58 commission.
1-59 (b) The validity of an action of the commission is not
1-60 affected by the fact that it is taken when a ground for removal of
1-61 a commission member exists.
1-62 Sec. 35.007. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. (a) The Office of
1-63 Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall provide
1-64 administrative support for the commission. The commission is
2-1 entitled to receive staff support, meeting facilities, temporary
2-2 work facilities, including computer, telephone, reproduction, and
2-3 facsimile equipment, available data, and other resources from the
2-4 Office of Court Administration as necessary to carry out the
2-5 commission's powers and duties.
2-6 (b) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
2-7 System shall grant all reasonable requests for staff support and
2-8 resources under this section.
2-9 Sec. 35.008. COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT. (a) A member
2-10 of the commission may not receive compensation for the member's
2-11 service on the commission.
2-12 (b) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
2-13 System shall reimburse a member for all actual and reasonable
2-14 expenses incurred in the exercise of powers and performance of
2-15 duties under this chapter.
2-16 (c) A member shall follow the reimbursement procedures of
2-17 the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System.
2-18 (Sections 35.009 to 35.100 reserved for expansion
2-19 SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES
2-20 Sec. 35.101. MEETINGS. The commission shall meet at the
2-21 call of the presiding officer or at the request of a majority of
2-22 the members.
2-23 Sec. 35.102. BIENNIAL REPORTS. (a) Not later than December
2-24 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall make a biennial
2-25 report to the legislature. In the report, the commission shall
2-26 recommend the proper salaries to be paid by the state for all
2-27 justices and judges of the supreme court, the court of criminal
2-28 appeals, the courts of appeals, and the district courts.
2-29 (b) In recommending the proper salaries for all justices and
2-30 judges of the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, the
2-31 courts of appeals, and the district courts, the commission shall
2-32 consider the following factors:
2-33 (1) the skill and experience required of the
2-34 particular judgeship at issue;
2-35 (2) the time required of the particular judgeship at
2-36 issue;
2-37 (3) the value of compensable service performed by
2-38 justices and judges, as determined by reference to judicial
2-39 compensation in other states and the federal government;
2-40 (4) the value of comparable service performed in the
2-41 private sector, including private judging, arbitration, and
2-42 mediation;
2-43 (5) the compensation of attorneys in the private
2-44 sector;
2-45 (6) the cost of living and changes in the cost of
2-46 living;
2-47 (7) the compensation from the state presently received
2-48 by other public officials in the state, including:
2-49 (A) state constitutional officeholders;
2-50 (B) deans, presidents, and chancellors of the
2-51 public university systems;
2-52 (C) district attorneys; and
2-53 (D) chiefs of police, county attorneys, and city
2-54 attorneys in major metropolitan areas for which that information is
2-55 readily available;
2-56 (8) other factors that are normally or traditionally
2-57 taken into consideration in the determination of judicial
2-58 compensation; and
2-59 (9) most importantly, the level of overall
2-60 compensation adequate to attract the most highly qualified
2-61 individuals in the state, from a diversity of life and professional
2-62 experiences, to serve in the judiciary without unreasonable
2-63 economic hardship and with judicial independence unaffected by
2-64 financial concerns.
2-65 Sec. 35.103. BINDING NATURE OF REPORT. (a) The
2-66 recommendations made by the commission in its biennial report to
2-67 the legislature are binding and have full force of law on September
2-68 1 following the delivery of the report to the lieutenant governor,
2-69 the speaker of the house of representatives, and the members and
3-1 members-elect of the legislature, if neither the senate nor the
3-2 house of representatives, by majority vote, rejects the
3-3 recommendations before the enactment of the General Appropriations
3-4 Act for the subsequent biennium.
3-5 (b) The comptroller shall make payments for the recommended
3-6 salaries unless either the senate or the house of representatives
3-7 rejects the recommendations as provided by Subsection (a).
3-8 SECTION 2. Section 659.011, Government Code, is amended to
3-9 read as follows:
3-10 Sec. 659.011. SALARIES SET IN APPROPRIATIONS ACT. Except as
3-11 provided by Chapter 35, the [The] salaries of all state officers
3-12 and employees are in the amounts provided by the biennial
3-13 appropriations act.
3-14 SECTION 3. Section 659.012, Government Code, is repealed.
3-15 SECTION 4. In appointing the initial members of the Judicial
3-16 Compensation Commission, the governor shall appoint three persons
3-17 to terms expiring February 1, 2001, three persons to terms expiring
3-18 February 1, 2003, and three persons to terms expiring February 1,
3-19 2005.
3-20 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect on the date on which the
3-21 constitutional amendment proposed by __J.R. No. ___, 76th
3-22 Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, takes effect. If that
3-23 amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.
3-24 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-28 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-29 * * * * *