LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 89TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 22, 2025

TO:	Honorable Jeff Leach, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB5130 by Leach (Relating to the additional compensation certain counties pay to judges and justices for extrajudicial services.), As Introduced

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB5130, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($588,816) through the biennium ending August 31, 2027.

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2026	($294,408)
2027	($294,408)
2028	($294,408)
2029	($294,408)
2030	($294,408)

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
2026	($294,408)
2027	($294,408)
2028	($294,408)
2029	($294,408)
2030	($294,408)

Fiscal Analysis

The bill would amend the Government Code to revise the limitation on compensation paid to judges and justices from all state and county sources. 

The bill would change the limitation on the county supplement for district court judges and business court judges from $5,000 below the maximum combined base salary of a Supreme Court justice to $1,000 below.

The bill would change the base salary of Court of Appeals justices from $5,000 below 120 percent of the state base pay of a district judge to $1,000 below. 

The bill would change the county supplement limitation for chief justices of the Courts of Appeals from $2,500 below the base pay of a Supreme Court justice to $1,500 below.

The bill would add a new subsection to entitle Business Court judges to receive, from the state, additional compensation equal to the maximum amount that district court judges may be paid by a county.

Methodology

According to the Comptroller of Public Accounts, the total cost to provide the increased county supplement to judges and justices would be $294,408 in General Revenue each fiscal year. 

This analysis assumes three justices of the Courts of Appeals would be eligible for a $4,000 increase provided by the bill, totaling $12,000 each fiscal year. 

The bill would increase the maximum allowable county supplement for Business Court judges by $4,000 to $22,000 per year. The total cost to provide the increased county supplement to each of the 10 current business court judge positions would total $220,000 each fiscal year. 

The total cost to the Judicial Retirement System Plan 2 (JRS-2) is the cumulative increase in salary supplements, multiplied by 19.25 percent, or $44,660 each fiscal year. 

The total cost for social security benefits is the cumulative increase in salary supplements, multiplied by 7.65 percent, or $17,748 each fiscal year. 

Local Government Impact

The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined at this time since county supplements paid to district court judges, appeals court justices, and chief justices, are discretionary.

Source Agencies:

212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 327 Employees Retirement System

LBB Staff:

JMc, KDw, DA, JPa