The dust is still settling from a crazy final weekend of the 89th Regular Session, but we wanted to pass along this information ASAP. More details about the rest of the legislature’s work will follow in coming weeks.
Judicial pay bill passes!
Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? Can you believe that the very last act of the 89th Legislature was to pass a judicial branch pay raise? (And a retirement bump for themselves, of course, but that’s a story for another time.) Late session drama aside, the headline is that SB 293 by Huffman/Leach passed late yesterday afternoon and is now on its way to Governor Abbott’s desk. If the bill avoids his veto pen, it will take effect on September 1, 2025.
As finally passed, SB 293 will increase the judicial benchmark salary from $140,000 to $175,000. That’s a $35,000 raise (25 percent). And it’s a rising tide that lifts many different boats in the judicial seas, but to differing degrees. Let us break down how we understand the impact of SB 293 for both felony and non-felony elected prosecutors with a helpful chart to start:
SENATE BILL 293 SALARY COMPARISONS
Current Salaries (FY 2024–25)
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS (Tex. Gov’t Code §§46.003 and 659.012)
| Years of Service | State Salary | Longevity Pay |
| 1–4 years (base salary) | $140,000 | $0 |
| 5–8 years | $154,000 | $0 |
| 9+ years | $168,000 | $0 |
| 13+ years (longevity pay) | $168,000 | $8,400 |
COUNTY ATTORNEYS (Tex. Gov’t Code §§46.0031 and 659.012)
| Years of Service | State Supplement (range) |
| 1–4 years (base salary) | $23,333–70,000 |
| 5–8 years | $25,667–77,000 |
| 9 or more years | $28,000–84,000 |
SB 293 Salaries (FY 2026–27)
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS
| Years of Service | State Salary | Longevity Pay |
| 1–4 years (base salary) | $175,000 | $0 |
| 5–8 years | $192,500 | $0 |
| 9 or more years | $210,000 | $0 |
| 13 or more years (longevity) | $210,000 | $10,500 |
COUNTY ATTORNEYS
| Years of Service | State Supplement (range) |
| 1–4 years (base salary) | $29,167–87,500 |
| 5–8 years | $32,083–96,250 |
| 9 or more years | $35,000–105,000 |
Now, for a more detailed analysis.
For Elected Felony Prosecutors (DAs, CDAs, And C&DAs)
BASE PAY: The SB 293 increases will apply to all elected felony prosecutors in the Professional Prosecutors Act (PPA). There are only three elected felony prosecutors who are *not* in the PPA (which allows them to engage in the private practice of law), and they already know who they are, so you don’t have to ask—if in doubt, you are in the PPA.
TIERS: The current salary increases after four and eight years of service, as enacted by HB 2384 (2019), still remain. Thus, the state salary for a DA with at least four full years of service is 110 percent of the new benchmark salary ($192,500). After eight years of service, that DA will receive 120 percent of the new benchmark salary ($210,000). And after 12 years of service, the judicial longevity pay that was extended to DAs last session increases the state salary by another 5 percent ($220,500).
LOCAL SUPPLEMENTS FOR DAs: The claw-back provision in statute still exists under SB 293, but at a higher figure. Under SB 293, tiered salary increases from the state may be phased out for DAs who receive county supplements that exceed $25,000. (That is the new maximum local supplement a district judge may receive under SB 293, increased from $18,000.) As a result, some DAs may not receive the full state salary increases described above depending on a combination of their tenure and their local county supplement due to this “donut hole” or “dead zone” that some of you are familiar with. But in the abstract, this is another potential salary increase of at least $7,000 that is available to some of you.
RETIREMENT: This was the curveball at the end of the session. The key takeaway is that retirement payments for all DAs, past and future, will be linked to their salary at retirement, and there will be no automatic COLAs (cost of living adjustments) or automatic increases when judicial salaries are raised in the future.
The general formula for determining an Employees Retirement System (ERS) Elected Class retirement benefit is:
(years of service) x (2.3%) x (judicial benchmark salary)
That last factor has changed over the past few sessions. Here is how SB 293 impacts DA retirements in practice:
- DAs who retired prior to 9/1/2019: No impact; still calculated off a benchmark salary of $140,000.
- DAs who retired (or will retire) from 9/1/2019 through 8/31/2025: No impact, still calculated off the state salary of a district judge with comparable years of service at the time of retirement based on the tiers created by HB 2384 back in 2019. Due to vesting requirements, that will be $168,000 for most of those retirees.
- Future DA retirees (9/1/2025 and forward): DAs retiring on or after September 1, 2025, will receive benefits calculated using the new SB 293 numbers for a district judge with comparable years of service at the time of retirement. Vesting requirements will set that number at $210,000 for most of them.
Some other points to note about retirement under SB 293 are that, first, the bill freezes retirement amounts due to the adverse actuarial impact that the retroactive application of new raises would have on the state’s bottom line. (It would cost the state tens or hundreds of millions of more dollars every year to raise those benefits.) In other words, the salary on the day that a DA retires will generally be used to determine what that retiree receives going forward with no COLAs or raises. This is a change from prior law, but it matches how everyone else in the ERS system will be treated going forward, both elected and employee class members.
That said, SB 293 does leave open the possibility that a future legislature could change that policy or authorize other bonuses like the “13th check” that are sometimes issued to retired teachers. Also, the end-of-session kerfuffle over increasing legislators’ retirement led to a compromise in which legislators’ benefits will no longer be linked to the judicial benchmark salary after SB 293 takes effect. That linkage—and the appearance of enriching themselves—has been the main obstacle to more frequent judicial pay increases. Now that legislators’ retirement benefits will be delinked from future changes in judicial pay, many observers think more frequent pay raises are possible.
OK, that should answer most initial questions for elected felony prosecutors. But what about non-PPA prosecutors who do not have felony jurisdiction? Don’t worry, there’s something for those county attorneys in SB 293 too!
For Elected County Attorneys (no felony jurisdiction)
STATE SUPPLEMENT: The county attorney supplement formula remains the same but will be based on the new benchmark judicial salary of $175,000. Because that formula 1) varies from one-half to one-sixth of the benchmark salary depending upon the number of counties within the local DA’s jurisdiction, and 2) is based upon a CA’s years of service, we cannot provide more specific details here other than to say that SB 293’s 25-percent increase will raise all boats proportionally. (See the charts above for those ranges.) Note also that the benchmark salary cap at which excess supplement funds must be re-directed from a CA’s salary to general office expenses will also rise by 25 percent under SB 293, and that may result in even higher take-home pay.
Conclusion
This summary is our attempt to answer some of the most likely initial questions TDCAA members may have about the impact of SB 293. However, the dust has barely settled from the session and, as always, ERS and the Comptroller’s Judiciary Section will be the ultimate arbiters of all new salary and retirement figures. You are welcome to call or email Shannon for answers to more specific questions, but you might also consider waiting a few weeks and then contacting those agencies later this summer for expert advice on the application of this new law to your specific situation.
Thank you to everyone who dedicated their time and efforts to help your fellow prosecutors get a much needed raise this legislative session. A very special thank you to everyone who helped snatch victory from the jaws of defeat this past weekend. You never gave up! Our justice system will be stronger as SB 293 helps to keep good people on the bench and in our profession and also attract top talent in the future. Please show your appreciation to your local legislators who fought for this raise all the way to the last minute of the 89th Legislative Session. It is not always pretty but a win is a win, and this is a big win!