County judge asks commission to raise pay, add $10,000 domestic-relations stipend and flags juvenile workloads

At a recent Houston County Commission meeting, a county judge asked commissioners to increase judicial pay, add a $10,000 stipend for domestic-relations jurisdiction and consider broader staffing support for juvenile caseloads.

The judge said the county currently pays for overnight lodging and some conference expenses but not travel mileage or office supplies and requested a pay adjustment that would raise her total compensation from about $64,000 to roughly $74,000 after adding the domestic-relations stipend. "I don't charge my bills back or my gas back or my mileage back or anything like that," she said. "I don't have the luxury, as most judges ... have, of a personal office within the courthouse." The judge added, "I would like to see an increase, to raise me to the max amount that the county can, for those two positions that I do hold."

The judge told the commission she expects the domestic-relations stipend is required under state law for judges who hear orders of protection, and said the work is time-consuming: "An order of protection is almost like you're trying a divorce case, and that takes considerable time." She also said she had been informed by Judge Wolf that the $10,000 stipend applies to judges handling domestic relations.

Nut graf: The request matters because the judge argues the court is absorbing additional work and overhead without corresponding pay or local administrative support, and commissioners said they would research the request before acting. The judge asked the commission to postpone any vote pending submission of a written memorandum on the request.

In addition to pay, the judge raised juvenile-services capacity and staffing concerns. She described a heavier juvenile caseload and said some neighboring counties are exploring a shared juvenile housing facility that would centralize services (social work, behavioral health and treatment) to reduce transport and increase local access. "Montgomery County has been talking about building a facility, juvenile housing facility of its own with all the services within the facility itself," she said, and named local officials she had spoken with about the plan.

Commissioners and staff told the judge they would need time to research how a stipend or salary change would be handled in the FY26 budget and how domestic-relations work is funded. One county official said the item was not currently in the budget system and would require further research. The judge agreed to provide written materials to the commission and to return with additional documentation.

Ending: Commissioners did not take immediate formal action on the judge's request during the meeting; they asked staff to research the fiscal and policy implications and requested the judge's memo for the next meeting.