DAN MORALES 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

QBffice of the !&tornep @eneral 

&ate of Eexae 

January 17.1992 

Honorable Carlos Valdez 

Nueces County Attorney 

Nueces County Courthouse 

901 Leopard 

Corpus Christi, Texas 78401-3680 

Opinion No. DM-74 

Rc: Whether a district judge can set 

the salary of his official court reporter 

at a level that differs from that set by 

the other district judges in a county 

(Ml-52) 

Dear Mr. Valdez: 

You ask whether one of the district judges in Nueces County can set the 

salary of his official court reporter at a level that differs from that set by the seven 

other district judges in that county. We conclude that he may. 

Section 52.051 of the Government Code’ provides: 

(a) An official district court reporter shall be paid a salary set by 

the order of the judge of the COUIT. This salary is in addition to 

transcript fees, fees for a statement of facts, and other necessary 

expenses authorized by law.2 

hction 52.051 does not violate provisions of the Texas Constitution, article VIII, sections l-a 

and 9, which cm-r the county commissio~~ers court to set tax rates, subjcd to applicable tax rate 

ceilings. Gilt-Mossor v. D&u Cowrty, 781 S.WZd 6l2 (Tex App.-Dallas 1989, no writ). 

%e amount of an official court reporter’s salary is subject to various limitations. See Gov’t 

Code 5 52051(b), (d), (c). Additionally, there are time constraints during which an order increashg a 

court reportefs salary must be sobmittcd to the commissioners court of each county in the judicial 

district. See id 5 52.05(c). The procedure for setting a salary is also statutorily defined, and includes 

holding a public hearing on the matter. See Local Gov’t Code P 152.905. 

p. 372 
Honorable Carlos Valdez - Page 2 .(DM-74) 

(d) The official district court reporter may not receive a salary 

that is more than 10 percent greater than the salary received 

during the preceding budget year without the approval of the 

commissioners court of each county in the judicial district. 

(e) A person appointed to succeed an official district court 

reporter may not receive a salary greater than the salary 

received by the person’s predecessor in office. (Emphasis 

added.) 

We find that the plain language of the statute indicates that the salary of an 

official court reporter is determined by a unilateral act3 of the judge of the court in 

which the reporter is employed. We find no indication in this statute that the judges 

within one district must be in agreement as to one salary for the court reporters in 

all districts; or that deviation among the salaries of court reporters in a district is 

precluded. See Mays v. Fifth Court of Appeals, 755 S.W.2d 78 (Tex. 1988); GillMussw v. Dab County, 781 S.W.2d 612 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1989, no writ). 

A district judge’s order of a pay increase is presumed valid as long as it is 

within the limitations authorized by section 52.051 of the Government Code. See 

Muys, supra (implicit approval of divergent court reporter salaries where a five 

percent salary increase was ordered by only “some” of the judges); Duncan v. Pogue, 

759 S.W.2d 435 (Tex. 1988) (affirming Mays standard of review). You inform us 

that the variant salary in this case is within the maximum allowed by statute; 

therefore, we can presume it is valid. See Muys, supnz. Further, we think that when 

the legislature requires district judges to act as one collective body in setting the 

salaries of public employees, it does so expressly. See Local Gov’t Code 0 152.03 

(district judges shall set, by majority vote, the county auditor’s annual salary). Thus, 

we conclude that the fact alone that an official court reporter’s salary differs from 

that set by the other district judges in a county does not rebut the presumption of its 

validity. Cf. Attorney General Opinion DM-51 (1991) (pay scale differential for 

justices of the peace in same county does not, on its face, violate equal protection 

clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution). 

jWe note. that section 52.051(d) of the Government Code requires commissioners court 

approval of a salary of an official court reporter in certain situations. 

p. 373 
Honorable Carlos Valdez - Page 3 (DM-74) 

SUMMARY 

A district judge can set the salary of his official court 

reporter at a level that differs from that set by the other district 

judges in a county. 

DAN MORALES 

Attorney General of Texas 

WILL PRYOR 

First Assistant Attorney General 

MARY KELLER 

Deputy Assistant Attorney General 

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKL,EY (Ret) 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RENEA HICKS 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

MADELEINE B. JOHNSON 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Kay Guajardo 

Assistant Attorney General 

p. 374