State Senator Kel Seliger (R- Amarillo) filed Senate Bill 223, to delink the elected class retirement annuity calculation from the salary of district judges.
Since 1991, the salary used to calculate the service retirement annuity for elected officials, such as state senators, has been tied to the salary of state district judges. This impedes any objective assessment on adequate compensation for district judges and gives the appearance of a conflict of interest. SB 223 will freeze the elected class annuity calculation at the salary a district judge is being paid on August 31, 2019.
“For several sessions, I have been working to delink district judge salaries from the elected class annuity calculation. This link is an obstacle towards attracting and retaining the most qualified judges. It also creates a conflict of interest for legislators who want to increase judicial pay but not their own retirement annuity,” said Seliger.
(Photo: Shutterstock by Everything Possible)
