|  | 
      
        |  | 
      
        |  | 
      
        |  | AN ACT | 
      
        |  | relating to the county budget for certain court personnel. | 
      
        |  | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | 
      
        |  | SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 111, Local Government | 
      
        |  | Code, is amended by adding Section 111.096 to read as follows: | 
      
        |  | Sec. 111.096.  BUDGETED POSITIONS FOR JUDICIARY. | 
      
        |  | Notwithstanding any other law, the commissioners court in preparing | 
      
        |  | the county budget for a fiscal year shall determine the number of | 
      
        |  | any additional positions authorized under Section 75.401, | 
      
        |  | Government Code, to be included in the budget and the maximum | 
      
        |  | compensation for those positions. | 
      
        |  | SECTION 2.  Sections 75.401(a), (c), (d), (e), and (f), | 
      
        |  | Government Code, are amended to read as follows: | 
      
        |  | (a)  In a county that has more than one district court or | 
      
        |  | statutory county court, those courts may establish and maintain, if | 
      
        |  | approved by [ on approval of] the commissioners court, a court | 
      
        |  | administrator system. | 
      
        |  | (c)  If the commissioners court includes in the county budget | 
      
        |  | money for the position of court administrator, the [ The] court | 
      
        |  | administrator is appointed by the judges of the district courts or | 
      
        |  | the statutory county courts served by the court administrator.  The | 
      
        |  | court administrator serves at the pleasure of those judges. | 
      
        |  | (d)  A court administrator is entitled to reasonable | 
      
        |  | compensation, as determined by the judges served and in the salary | 
      
        |  | range for the position, as set by the commissioners court in the | 
      
        |  | annual budget. | 
      
        |  | (e)  The judges of the courts served by the court | 
      
        |  | administrator, if the positions are included in the county budget | 
      
        |  | adopted by [ with the approval of] the commissioners court, shall | 
      
        |  | appoint appropriate staff and support personnel according to the | 
      
        |  | needs of the local jurisdiction. | 
      
        |  | (f)  If money to fund the court administrator system is | 
      
        |  | included in the county budget [ On order and directive of the  | 
      
        |  | judges], the commissioners court shall fund the court administrator | 
      
        |  | system from fines collected by the courts served by the court | 
      
        |  | administrator. If the fines collected are insufficient to provide | 
      
        |  | the total funding for the program, the county shall provide the | 
      
        |  | additional funds needed. | 
      
        |  | SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. | 
      
        |  | 
      
        |  | 
      
        |  | ______________________________ | ______________________________ | 
      
        |  | President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | 
      
        |  | 
      
        |  | 
      
        |  | I certify that H.B. No. 4104 was passed by the House on May 9, | 
      
        |  | 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 145, Nays 0, 2 present, not | 
      
        |  | voting. | 
      
        |  |  | 
      
        |  | ______________________________ | 
      
        |  | Chief Clerk of the House | 
      
        |  | 
      
        |  | 
      
        |  | I certify that H.B. No. 4104 was passed by the Senate on May | 
      
        |  | 24, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 1. | 
      
        |  |  | 
      
        |  | ______________________________ | 
      
        |  | Secretary of the Senate | 
      
        |  | APPROVED:  _____________________ | 
      
        |  | Date | 
      
        |  |  | 
      
        |  | _____________________ | 
      
        |  | Governor |