Commissioner John Wiley Price convened discussion of judicial salary adjustments after staff presented workforce compensation options and the potential supplement amounts.

Why it matters: Commissioners weigh whether to include a county judicial supplement in the FY2026 budget (presentation referenced $18,000 and $25,000 supplement options and a $300,000 aggregate line) and how any county supplement interacts with a state-level $35,000 increase that affects judicial pay and downstream court-of-appeals proportional shares.

What was argued: Several commissioners, including Commissioner Price, pressed for a merit-based supplement that would reward productive judges and reduce backlogs, while others and court staff warned that state law causes supplements awarded to district judges to increase pay for other judicial officers (probate, county court at law and misdemeanor judges) because of statutory waterfalls. In the court’s example, staff explained that awarding a supplement to one district judge raises the maximum paid to misdemeanor judges: "Once you award that supplement to 1 district judge, every probate judge, every misdemeanor judge, every court law judge gets the maximum supplement for their salary," a staff member said.

Concerns and constraints: Commissioners raised operational concerns about setting performance metrics from the bench and about uneven effects across court types. Commissioner Price and others asked that judges propose appropriate performance metrics rather than the commissioners unilaterally setting those measures. Commissioner Price said he favored putting a $25,000 baseline in the proposal but asked for judge-provided metrics. Court staff confirmed that whatever supplement the court adopts affects county contribution shares for appellate calculations and can leave Dallas County out of step with neighboring counties.

Directions and next steps: The court instructed staff to return with comparative data from other counties, the fiscal effect of $18,000 versus $25,000 supplements, and proposals from the judges or the Office of Court Administration (OCA) for metrics to evaluate judicial performance. Staff also said that, regardless of county action on the supplement, judges will receive the state-mandated increase that had been discussed as $35,000.

Ending: Commissioners agreed to place judicial-supplement options and comparative county data on a forthcoming docket and to request judge and OCA metric proposals before making a binding budget decision.