Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-456 Page: 3 of 8
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Mr. Jerry L. Benedict - Page 3
(4) [relating to non-faculty employees of institutions of higher
education] ....
(k) Funds appropriated in this Section for the salary increase may not
be used to fund a salary increase for the following groups: ...
[certain employees at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
and at the Texas Youth Commission].
General Appropriations Act, 77th Leg., R.S., S.B. 1, art. IX, 10.12, at IX-76-78 (2001), available
at http://www.lbb.state.tx.us (footnote added).
The length of service requirements set out in section 10.12(i) are especially relevant to a
person holding a temporary position with the courts, such as a recent law school graduate who serves
as a law clerk from September 1 of one year to August 31 of the following year. A person currently
employed on this schedule would not be able to meet the length of service requirements and,
accordingly, would not receive the raise, regardless of whether he or she were otherwise qualified
for it. To be eligible for the salary increase on September 1, 2001, a state employee must have
been employed for at least twelve continuous months before that date, and to be eligible by
September 1, 2002, an individual must have begun work with the state prior to March 1, 2002. Id.
10.12(i)(1)(2). A one-year term of employment that begins on September 1 will have ended by
the time the person qualifies under either provision.
Section 10.12 appropriates funds to pay a four percent salary increase for state employees
with certain exceptions, none of which apply to appellate court briefing attorneys or law clerks. Its
provisions reflect statutes governing state employee compensation and refer to other sections of the
appropriations act. Particularly relevant to section 10.12 are the Position Classification Act ("Act"),
TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. ch. 654 (Vernon 1994 & Supp. 2002), and part 2, article IX of the General
Appropriations Act, which includes provisions relating to the Position Classification Act. We will
review these provisions to provide a context for understanding section 10.12.
The Position Classification Act is the most important provision governing state employees'
compensation, although it is not the only statute authorizing the legislature to provide for the
compensation of state employees, including employees of the judiciary, in the appropriations act.
See id. 22.301 (Vernon 1988) (salaries of "the clerks, other officers, and employees of the
supreme court, court of criminal appeals, and courts of appeals shall be determined by the legislature
in its appropriation acts for the support of the judiciary"); 659.011 (Vernon 1994 & Supp. 2002)
("salaries of all state officers and employees are in the amounts provided by the biennial
appropriations act"), 659.012 (providing for minimum salaries for justices of the supreme court,
justices and chief justices of the courts of appeals, and judges of district courts).(JC-0456)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-456, text, January 28, 2002; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274766/m1/3/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.