Can Bexar County pay its district judges a salary supplement larger than $12,000 a year?

Texas AG Opinion JM-938: The $12,000 Cap on Bexar Judge Supplements

Plain-English summary

Texas district judges are paid mainly by the state, but a county may add a local salary supplement on top. In Bexar County, the amount of that supplement was set by statute, and the county auditor thought two parts of the statute contradicted each other. He asked the Attorney General to sort it out.

The statute is section 32.015 of the Government Code. Subsection (a) says the county "shall" pay district judges $12,000 a year. Subsection (d) says a judge's combined state-and-county salary "may not exceed" an amount that is $1,000 less than what a justice of the local court of appeals earns. The auditor read subsection (d) as a grant of flexibility: as long as a judge's total pay stayed at least $1,000 below the court of appeals justices, the county could pay whatever supplement it liked. He also thought subsection (d) had been enacted more recently, which under the usual rule would make it prevail over subsection (a).

The Attorney General rejected both parts of that reading.

On the timing, the two subsections were actually born together. Both go back to a single 1973 statute (article 6819a-19c), where the $12,000 supplement was written as being "subject to" the salary cap. So the cap was never a separate, later authorization to pay more. It was a limit built into the same law: if the $12,000 supplement would push a judge's total pay above the ceiling, the supplement had to be trimmed. Later events did not change this. A 1985 recodification that moved the statute into the Government Code was expressly nonsubstantive, and a 1987 amendment only swapped the outdated phrase "supreme judicial district" for "court of appeals district" to match constitutional changes. Neither altered the meaning.

So subsection (d) does not let Bexar County pay more than $12,000. It only sets a ceiling that could, in some future year, force the county to pay less than $12,000. At the time of the opinion that was not a live concern: under the appropriations act then in effect, a district judge's combined salary came out comfortably below the cap, so the full $12,000 supplement could be paid without violating subsection (d).

The bottom line is short. Bexar County has no authority to pay its district judges a salary supplement of more than $12,000 a year.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1988. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Judicial salary law in Texas has changed substantially since 1988. State judicial pay, the county supplement rules, and the caps tied to court of appeals salaries have all been amended, and section 32.015 of the Government Code (and the related salary provisions) may read very differently today. The specific dollar figures in this opinion reflect the 1987-1988 appropriations act and are long out of date. Anyone dealing with a county judicial supplement now should rely on the current Government Code and current appropriations act, not the figures cited here.

Who this opinion affected (as of 1988)

The Bexar County Commissioners Court and auditor: The opinion told them the $12,000 figure in section 32.015 is a ceiling on the supplement, not a floor above which subsection (d) grants discretion, so the county cannot pay more.

Bexar County district judges: The opinion fixed their county supplement at $12,000, subject to reduction only if the combined-salary cap were ever exceeded.

Other counties and county auditors: The opinion illustrated how a "subject to" clause and a later nonsubstantive recodification are read, a recurring issue in judicial-supplement statutes.

Common questions

Can Bexar County pay its district judges more than a $12,000 supplement?
No. The Attorney General concluded the county has no authority to pay district judges a salary supplement of more than $12,000 a year under section 32.015 of the Government Code.

Doesn't subsection (d) let the county pay up to $1,000 below the court of appeals justices' pay?
No. Subsection (d) is a cap, not a grant of authority to pay more. It can only require the $12,000 supplement to be reduced if the combined salary would otherwise exceed the ceiling.

Was subsection (d) enacted later than subsection (a)?
No. Both trace to the same 1973 statute. The 1985 recodification was nonsubstantive, and the 1987 amendment only changed "supreme judicial" to "court of appeals" to conform to constitutional amendments, making no substantive change.

Did the county actually have to reduce the $12,000 at the time?
No. Under the appropriations act then in effect, the combined state-and-county salary stayed below the cap, so the full $12,000 could be paid.

Background and statutory framework

Section 32.015 of the Government Code directs the Bexar County Commissioners Court to budget for and pay district judges an annual salary of $12,000 for services rendered and for performing administrative services (subsection (a)), paid in equal monthly installments from the county general fund or officers' salary fund (subsection (b)), in addition to the state salary (subsection (c)); subsection (d) provides that the combined yearly salary from the county and the state received by each Bexar County district judge 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 district in which Bexar County is located (Bexar County is within the Fourth Court of Appeals District, Government Code section 22.201).

The substance of subsection (a) was enacted at the same time as subsection (d) and was originally codified as article 6819a-19c, V.T.C.S. (Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., ch. 205, at 476), which required the $12,000 supplement to be paid "subject to" the cap that a judge's combined state-and-county salary rate not exceed an amount $1,000 less than the combined rate of the judges of the Court of Civil Appeals in whose district Bexar County is located. Because the $12,000 supplement was made subject to the cap, the supplement would have to be reduced if it caused the district judges' salaries to exceed the cap.

In 1985 the legislature adopted the Judicial Title of the Government Code, a nonsubstantive recodification, and article 6819a-19c was recodified as section 32.015; although the precise language changed, the recodification was nonsubstantive. In 1987 the legislature amended subsection (d) (Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, section 1.46) only to substitute the phrase "court of appeals" for "supreme judicial," conforming the Government Code to constitutional amendments proposed by Senate Joint Resolution No. 14 of the 69th Legislature; that conforming amendment made no substantive change and did not affect the meaning of section 32.015.

Subsection (d) therefore does not permit the county to pay district judges more than $12,000; rather, the language of the original enactment makes clear that subsection (d) could, under a future appropriations act, be the basis for reducing the supplement. Under the then-current appropriations act, no reduction was needed: the state salary of the associate justices of the Fourth Court of Appeals was $70,916 (chief justice $71,379), and the state salary of district court judges was $56,135, so a Bexar County district judge's combined salary of $68,135 (with the $12,000 supplement) remained below the cap. Even if the court of appeals justices received no county supplement, the district judges' salary would be $2,781 less than the justices' salary (Government Code section 31.001 authorizes counties to supplement the salaries of court of appeals justices). Compliance with subsection (a) therefore would not prevent Bexar County from also complying with subsection (d).

Citations

Statutory authority:

• Section 32.015, Government Code (Bexar County district judge salary supplement and combined-salary cap)
• Article 6819a-19c, V.T.C.S. (original 1973 enactment recodified as section 32.015)
• Section 22.201, Government Code (Bexar County within the Fourth Court of Appeals District)
• Section 31.001, Government Code (counties may supplement court of appeals justices' salaries)

Prior Attorney General materials referenced: H-123 (1973).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-938
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1988/jm0938.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor OCR errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

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 salary 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 (d) 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 Gov't Code section 22.201(e) (Bexar County within Fourth Court of Appeals District). You argue that subsection (d) 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 subject to the provisions 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 $12,000 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, section 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. section 27 (providing that the Judicial Title of the Government Code is not intended to make substantive changes in the law).

In 1987 the legislature amended subsection (d) 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 [supreme judicial] district in which Bexar County is located.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, section 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, section 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 $12,000. Rather, the language of the original enactment makes clear that subsection (d) could, under a future appropriations act, be the basis for reducing the Bexar County supplement for district judges. [Footnote 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 is $70,916. General Appropriations Act, Acts 1987, 70th Leg., 2d C.S., ch. 78, section 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. section 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. 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. See Gov't Code section 31.001 (authorizing counties to supplement salaries of justices of courts of appeals). See generally 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).]

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