Bexar County approves higher judicial supplements; commissioners hear wide-ranging public-safety and court staffing budget requests

BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — The Bexar County Commissioners Court on Aug. 26 unanimously approved a resolution and a package of judicial pay adjustments that will raise the county'paid supplements for some judges and reorganize several temporary magistrate positions, then spent more than two hours hearing detailed budget requests from the sheriff, the district attorney, constables and other county offices.

The court voted "aye" on a bundled motion to: approve a resolution expressing the court's support and collaboration with the judiciary; increase the county supplement for district court judges from $18,000 to $25,000 annually effective Oct. 1, 2025; raise the maximum county supplement for a Fourth Court of Appeals justice from $9,000 to $12,500 annually effective Oct. 1, 2025; and delete a set of magistrate posts while adding a comparable set of associate-judge positions at the request of the criminal district courts.

Tina Smith, with the county manager's office, told the court the changes follow recent state legislation. "Senate Bill 293'increased the base salary for district court judges from $140,000 to $175,000 effective Sept. 1, 2025," Smith said. "This is the first pay raise that the district court judges have had since February 2013. The law also allows the court to increase the county supplement, which is what will be paid by the county." Smith presented county cost estimates and effective dates tied to the new state base.

Why it matters

The state increase in base pay for district judges triggers automatic and discretionary county-level adjustments across several locally funded judgeships (county courts, probate courts and many associate or magistrate positions). Commissioners stressed that approving the maximum discretionary supplement would help retain experienced jurists locally and create parity across multiple court types. County staff estimated the total fiscal impact to county operations at roughly $1.8 million annually if the court adopts the full maximum supplements on top of the state increase.

What the court approved (vote synopsis)

- Motion: Approve the resolution of support for collaboration with the judiciary; increase the county supplement for district court judges from $18,000 to $25,000 effective Oct. 1, 2025; increase the maximum county supplement for a Fourth Court of Appeals justice from $9,000 to $12,500 effective Oct. 1, 2025; and delete specified magistrate positions and add the requested associate-judge positions per the criminal district courts'request. - Mover: Commissioner Calvert. Second: Commissioner Rodriguez. - Outcome: Approved (motion carried by voice vote; court recorded unanimous "aye"). - Fiscal notes (presented by staff): automatic state-driven increases effective Sept. 1, 2025 total about $1.3 million; the additional county supplement increase adds roughly $500,000 for a combined impact near $1.8 million annually (county staff estimates).

Key discussion points and clarifications

- Discretion vs. automatic change: Smith and commissioners clarified that the state pay increase itself takes effect Sept. 1 and automatically raises many salaries tied to the district court base; the county must separately…