August 3, 1988 

Mr. Oliver Lewis, Jr. 

Bexar County Auditor 

224 Dwyer 

San Antonio, Texas 78204 

Opinion No. JM-938 

Re: Conflict between portions 

of the Government Code regarding salary supplementation 

of district judges in Bexar 

County (RQ-1401) 

Dear Mr. Lewis: 

you ask us to resolve an apparent conflict between two 

provisions of section 32.015 of the Government Code. 

Section 32.015 provides: 

(a) The Commissioners Court of Bexar 

County shall budget for and pay the judges of 

the district courts having jurisdiction in 

that county an annual sal.ary of $12,000 for 

services rendered and for performing 

administrative services. 

(b) The salary shall be paid in equal 

monthly installments from the county general 

fund or officers' salary fund. 

(c) The salary is in addition to the 

salary paid by the state. 

(d) The combined yearly salary from the 

county and the state received by each judge 

of the district courts of Bexar County may 

not exceed an amount equal to $1,000 less 

than the combined yearly salary from the 

state and county received by each justice of 

the court of appeals in the court of appeals 

district in which Bexar County is located. 

YOU suggest that subsection (a) conflicts with subsection 

(a). Subsection (a) provides that Bexar County shall pay 

district judges an annual salary of $12,000. YOU interpret 

subsection (d) as allowing Bexar County to pay district 

judges any amount as long as the amount is at least $1,000 

less than the combined annual salary received by justices of 

the court of appeals for the Fourth Court of Appeals. See 

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Mr. Oliver Lewis, Jr. - Page 2 (JM-938) 

Gov't Code 5 22.201(e) (Bexar County within Fourth Court of 

Appeals District). 'You argue that subsection Cd) was 

enacted later in time than subsection (a) and that it 

therefore prevails. We disagree both with your interpretation of subsection (d) and with your suggestion that 

subsection (d) was enacted later than subsection (a). 

The substance of subsection (a) was enacted at the same 

time as the substance of subsection (d) and was originally 

codified as article 6819a-19c, V.T.C.S. Acts 1973, 63rd 

Leg., ch. 205, at 476. The original language was as 

follows: 

Section 1. The judges of the district 

courts of Bexar County shall receive, in 

addition to the salary paid by the State to 

them and to other District Judges of this 

State, the sum of $12,000 annually abiect to 

the nrovisions of Section 2 of this Act, to 

be paid in equal monthly installments out of 

the General Fund or Officers Salary Fund of 

the county, for all services rendered to the 

county and for performing administrative 

services. The Commissioners Court shall make 

proper budget provisions for the payment 

thereof . . . . 

Section 2. The combined yearly salary 

rate from state and county sources of the 

judges of the district courts of Bexar County 

may not exceed an amount which is $1,000 less 

than the combined yearly salary rate from 

state and county sources received by the 

judges of the Court of Civil Appeals in whose 

district Bexar County is located. (Emphasis 

added.) 

Because the requirement that Bexar County pay $12,000 to 

district judges was made subject to the requirement that a 

district judge's total salary be at least $1,000 less than 

the salaries of the justices of the Fourth Court of Appeals, 

it follows that the Sl2,OOO' supplement would have to be 

reduced if it caused the district judges' salaries to exceed 

that cap. 

In 1985 the legislature adopted the Judicial Title of 

the Government Code, which was a nonsubstantive recodification of a number of statutes affecting the judiciary. Acts 

1985, 69th Leg., ch. 480, 5 1, at 1720. Article 6819a-19c, 

V.T.C.S., was recodified as section 32.015 of the Government 

Code. Although the precise language was changed, the recodification was nonsubstantive. Id. § 27 (providing that 

P. 4718 
Mr. Oliver Lewis, Jr. - Page 3 (JM-938) 

Judicial Title of Government Code is not intended to make 

substantive changes in the law). 

In 1987 the legislature amended subsection Cd) of 

section 32.015 as follows: 

Section 32.015(d), Government Code, is 

amended to read as follows: 

(d) The combined yearly salary from the 

county and the state received by each judge 

of the district courts of Bexar County may 

not exceed an amount equal to $1,000 less 

than the combined yearly salary from the 

state and county received by each justice of 

the court of appeals 'in the court of aooeals 

[supreme-jadieia%] district in which Bexar 

County is located. 

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, 5 1.46, at 539. It is this 

change that is the basis for your suggestion that subsection 

(d) is a later enactment than subsection (a). The only 

change made by the 1987 amendment, however, was to substitute the phrase "court of appeals" for the phrase "supreme 

judicial." That was done in order to conform the Government 

Code to changes made by the adoption of the constitutional 

amendments proposed by Senate Joint Resolution No. 14, Acts 

of the 69th Legislature, Regular Session, 1985. Acts 1987, 

70th Leg., ch. 148, § 1.01, at 535. That conforming amendment makes no substantive change in subsection (d) and does 

not affect the meaning of section 32.015. 

In summary, subsection (d) does not permit Bexar County 

to pay district judges more than 812,000. Rather, the 

language of the original enactment makes clear that subsection (d) could, under a future appropriations act,1 be 

1. Under the current appropriations act there would be 

no need to reduce the $12,000 supplement. The annual salary 

to be paid by the state to the associate justices of the 

Fourth Court of Appeals by the state is $70,916. General 

Appropriations Act, Acts 1987, 70th Leg., 2d C.S., ch. 78, 

5 IV-4 (chief justice to receive $71,379). The annual salary 

to be paid to district court judges by the state is $56,135. 

Id. 5 IV-25. Section 32.015 of the Government Code provides 

that the Bexar County supplement for district judges shall 

be $12,000. The total state and county salary for district 

court judges in Bexar County, therefore, would be $68,135. 

(Footnote Continued) 

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Mr. Oliver Lewis, Jr. - Page 4 (JM-938) 

the basis for reducinq the Bexar County supplement for 

district judges. 

SUMMARY 

Bexar County has no authority to pay 

district judges a salary supplement of more 

than $12,000 a year. 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

MARY KELLER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

LOU MCCREARY 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RICK GILPIN 

Chairman, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Sarah Woelk 

Assistant Attorney General 

(Footnote Continued) 

Even if the justices of the Fourth Court of Appeals received 

no county supplement, the salary of the district court 

judges would be $2,781 less than the salary of the justices 

for the Fourth Court of Appeals. &g Gov't Code § 31.001 

(authorizing counties to supplement salaries of justices of 

courts of appeals). See senerally Attorney General Opinion 

H-123 (1973). Therefore, compliance with subsection (a) of 

section 32.015 would not prevent Bexar County from also 

complying with subsection (d). 

P. 4720