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Van Zandt County district judge seeks raises, reporter pay and building improvements in budget pitch
Summary
Judge Chris Martin asked the commissioners court to approve a higher employee raise, keep contingency funds for expensive criminal defense cases and consider funding for courthouse improvements and court-reporter pay to retain staff.
Judge Chris Martin, Van Zandt County district court judge, asked the county commissioners court on Friday to include larger pay increases and facility improvements in next year’s budget while keeping contingency funds to cover infrequent, high-cost legal expenses.
Martin said he was requesting a 5% across-the-board pay increase for his court’s staff and described line-item reductions elsewhere in his submitted budget. “I would respectfully request 5%,” Martin said.
The judge told the court he had trimmed many operational line items and left personnel costs largely intact. He said the court’s indigent-defense contract attorneys cover roughly 98% of…
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