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County judge outlines lower requested salary, asks for conference increase and visiting-judge coverage
Summary
County Court of Law judge told the commissioners his requested salary line should be reduced from the $237,817 previously listed for a predecessor because he does not receive judge longevity. He listed his base pay and supplements and asked for modest increases to conference and visiting-judge lines.
Judge Townson told the Cooke County Commissioners that the salary line for County Court of Law needs to be reduced from the $237,817 figure that had been requested when Judge Morris held the office. "My base is $175,000, the supplement is $15,210, and then there's an annual juvenile board supplement of $1,200," the judge said, presenting the components that should appear in the proposed salary line.
The judge said the prior total included a longevity pay that applied to Judge Morris but will not apply to him; commissioners and staff confirmed that change will lower the requested line to roughly $191,400 in the draft budget. Townson also asked the court to approve a modest increase in his conference budget to $1,500 to cover an upcoming annual conference in September and New Judges School in December.
On court operations the judge described the county's practice of hiring visiting judges for occasions where he must recuse himself because of prior county-prosecutor work, noting a prior allotment of about $6,000 and saying a $10,000 visiting-judge line would cover roughly seven days at about $1,500 per day if needed. "That would be having like a normal morning docket and afternoon docket," he said, explaining the value of the contingency when recusal requires outside coverage.
The hearing record shows commissioners acknowledged the salary change and signaled staff would adjust line items; the proposed conference and visiting-judge amounts were discussed as part of the line-item review. The court did not take a formal vote on the judge’s requested line during the session; staff plans to reflect the change in the next draft of the budget book.
