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Judges seek pay adjustments and new staff amid rising caseloads and new state mandates
Summary
Multiple judges asked Commissioners Court for pay increases for court coordinators, bailiffs and administrative staff, new positions for family and guardianship support, and a juvenile-court stipend tied to translation duties and rising referrals.
Several Brazos County judges urged the Commissioners Court to raise pay for court coordinators, bailiffs and secretaries, and to add or reclassify positions across multiple courts during the personnel portion of a budget workshop.
Judge Weitz, speaking about the newly created '470 second' court, requested increases to bring his bailiff and staff pay in line with others the court cited via a records request. "The lowest paid person is making $29.47 an hour... my bailiff is the 1 making $26.05 per hour," Weitz said and asked to bring his bailiff up to the next-lowest rate. He also requested step increases for his court coordinator and administrative secretary to reduce pay disparities.
Family-associate court Judge Hensarling introduced a reclassification request for court coordinator Elena Schultz, saying Schultz began as a Blinn intern and now runs a high-volume docket. "She is someone I met in 2019 as an intern from Blinn... She is someone who keeps my court running smoothly and keeps our constituents satisfied," Hensarling said while presenting docket statistics.
Judge Swan asked for an additional stipend for her court coordinator, citing that the coordinator translates daily for juvenile cases and that referrals have risen from 467 in 2021 to 811 in 2024. Swan said the coordinator previously received a $3,500 stipend in 2009 and presented documentation to support the request.
Other items included a family-associate request to create an administrative secretary position (total cost presented as $93,006.25) and a proposal to move four guardianship/probate positions into a Court Support Guardianship division to centralize accounting and reporting (described as a no-cost reorganization). Several judges said the increases will improve equity and retention; no final votes were recorded at the workshop and staff said they will prioritize requests during the next session.
