TITLE: Relating to the compensation of presiding judges of administrative judicial regions.

SUMMARY: Relating to the compensation of presiding judges of administrative judicial regions.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to the compensation of presiding judges of administrative judicial regions. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Sections 74.051(b), (c), (d), and (e), Government Code, are amended to read as follows: (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a presiding judge shall receive an annual [a] salary from the state not to exceed that is 28 percent of the annual state salary of a district judge [$33,000 a year. The Texas Judicial Council shall set the salary biennially and, in arriving at the amount of the salary, shall consider whether the presiding judge is active in administrative duties, performs part time, or is a retired judge. The salary set by the Texas Judicial Council shall be apportioned to each county in the region according to the population of the counties comprising the region and shall be paid through the county budget process].(c) A presiding judge who is a retired or former district judge or a retired appellate judge and who presides over an administrative region with 30 or more district courts, statutory county courts, and retired and former judges named on the list maintained under Section 74.055 for the administrative region is entitled to an annual salary from the state for each fiscal year as follows: Number of Courts and Judges Percent of a District Judge State Salary 30 to 49 28 percent [$35,000] 50 to 69 32 percent [$40,000] 70 to 89 36 percent [$45,000] 90 [or more] to 109 40 percent [$50,000] 110 to 129 44 percent 130 to 149 48 percent 150 to 169 52 percent 170 to 189 56 percent 190 or more 60 percent (d) A retiree judge appointed to serve as a presiding judge under Section 74.005 does not resume service as a judicial officer for purposes of Sections 832.102 and 837.102, and the retiree's annuity payments will not be suspended [The salary shall be apportioned to each county in the region according to the population of the counties comprising the region].(e) A former judge appointed to serve as a presiding judge under Section 74.005 is entitled to service credit in the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan One or the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan Two in which the judge is a member for each month in which the former judge serves as a presiding judge [Each county comprising the administrative region shall pay annually to the presiding judge, out of the officers' salary fund or the general fund of the county, the amount of the salary apportioned to it as provided by this section and the other expenses authorized by this chapter that are not paid by state appropriations. The presiding judge shall place each county's payment of salary and other expenses in an administrative fund, from which the salary and other expenses shall be paid. The salary shall be paid from the administrative fund in 12 equal monthly payments].SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.