Judicial Compensation Commission reviews OCA data, considers COLA after 25% pay boost

The Texas Judicial Compensation Commission reviewed an Office of Court Administration (OCA) report May 28 that shows recent legislative changes improved base pay for judges but left a gap with private-sector compensation, prompting commissioners to consider recommending an ongoing cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) or incremental raises.

Chair Scott Salmons opened the meeting and asked OCA staff to present the agency’s turnover, experience and pay comparisons. Megan LaVoi, administrative director at OCA, summarized the eight statutorily required elements the commission must consider and noted those elements are listed in state law. “You can find these all listed in Government Code, section 305.102,” LaVoi said.

LaVoi told commissioners the commission’s most recent recommendations included a 30% proposal to the Legislature; lawmakers enacted a 25% increase in 2024 and fully decoupled legislative retirement from judicial pay. “The decoupling is really big,” Salmons said, calling the change a major obstacle the commission had previously faced in persuading lawmakers to act.

OCA data director Alejandra Pena presented the demographic and turnover analysis OCA will use in the commission’s report. Pena said that, as of Sept. 1, 2025, “80% of judges had at least 20 years of experience as a Texas attorney,” and she summarized age and average years of service by court level. OCA’s turnover analysis, based on surveys of departing judges, showed retirement remained an important factor and that “more than 60% of judges indicated that salary was a major factor,” Pena said.

Pena also illustrated the gap created by inflation. She presented a hypothetical COLA timeline showing that, had a COLA been in place from 2006 through 2026 tied to CPI or ECI, district-judge base pay would be roughly $185,000; OCA estimated keeping pace with inflation in fiscal year 2026 would have required about a 32% increase, roughly 7 percentage points more than the 25% raise lawmakers enacted.

Commissioners spent the bulk of the meeting discussing strategy for future recommendations and the political realities of asking the Legislature for further increases. Several members said they would favor either an embedded COLA or incremental steps to avoid falling behind again; others emphasized following the statutory framework and relying on the data to justify recommendations. Commissioner Curt Nelson said he is inclined to “continue incrementally to move it to…be with the cost of living, at least stay in touch with that.”

The commission also discussed recent legislation that requires district judges to track time in July and to report performance measures such as clearance rates and age of pending caseloads. Megan LaVoi noted those transparency requirements were included in S.B. 293, passed as part of the package that carried the pay increase; Salmons said some sitting judges objected to elements of the reporting but that the commission’s work remains important.

OCA staff invited commissioners to request additional analysis ahead of a public hearing anticipated in Austin this summer. LaVoi said staff will circulate a Doodle poll for dates and that the statutory report is due Dec. 1, with a likely internal timeline to finalize recommendations in October.

Votes at a glance • Approval of minutes (Nov. 19, 2024): motion made and approved by voice vote (aye). No roll-call tally recorded.

What’s next OCA will schedule an in-person public hearing in late July or August in Austin, collect public testimony and prepare a draft report for commission approval in October ahead of the Dec. 1 statutory deadline.