February 23, 2018

Texas Attorney General Opinions

Opinion KP-0180              2/15/18

Issue:

May a county commissioners court deny a county judge longevity pay due to receipt of a state salary supplement pursuant to Gov’t Code §26.006?

Response:

Gov’t Code §26.006(c) does not preclude a county policy that excludes a county judge who receives a state salary supplement from receiving longevity pay paid to other officers and employees, provided the policy does not effectively reduce the county judge’s salary to offset the county judge’s state salary supplement. Read opinion.

Commentary:

One wonders why else a county would reduce a county judge’s salary under such circumstances. In any event, the opinion also cites to §41.255 of the Government Code, which prevents a county from reducing an assistant prosecutor’s salary to offset the longevity pay supplement. It would seem that this opinion regarding the county judge would also apply by analogy to assistant prosecutors.

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