Checking paychecks

Dallas solo Betsy Whitaker, the 2003-2004 State Bar of Texas president, will head the  Judicial Compensation Commission tasked with studying judges’ salaries and making recommendations to the Texas Legislature. Gov. Rick Perry announced today that he has appointed Whitaker and eight other members of the commission. “My intent is to work with the commission to provide the analysis the Legislature needs,” Whitaker says. Part of the mix they will consider includes information about judicial compensation in the federal court system and other state court systems, she says.  The Legislature passed H.B. 3199 to create the commission. The legislation requires the commission to make recommendations to the Legislature prior to each session on what the compensation level should be for justices and judges on the Texas Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, courts of appeals and district courts.
-- Mary Alice Robbins