Relating to the annual state salary supplement for certain county judges.

Contracts

• Payroll Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Third-party payroll vendors serving Texas counties must review SLAs. Failure to update the calculation logic constitutes a failure to apply statutory compensation formulas, potentially breaching "compliance with applicable law" clauses.
• Interlocal Agreements: Counties sharing judicial funding must amend budget agreements to account for the increased supplement costs for tenured judges.

Hiring/Training

• Payroll Staff Training: HR and Payroll staff must be trained to stop using the static "18% of Base District Judge Salary" formula. They must now apply a dynamic formula: 18% of (Base Salary + Longevity Pay).
• No New Certifications: No new personnel certifications are required.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Tenure Audits: You must create a verified record of "years of service" for every sitting Constitutional County Judge. This data point is now a required input for payroll calculation.
• Eligibility Affidavits: Continue filing the affidavit certifying the judge performs judicial functions for at least 18% of their workload, but attach the service verification to justify the specific dollar amount requested from the Comptroller.

Fees & Costs

• Budget Impact: The state anticipates an annual cost increase of $885,000.
• County Liability: If state appropriations lag behind the statutory entitlement, counties must be prepared to bridge the funding gap for the increased salary supplement to avoid underpayment claims.