In a move to transparently adjust the earnings of Denton County's elected officials, the Commissioners Court has set forth a proposal detailing salary and allowance changes for the fiscal year 2025. As part of the budget adoption process, the new salary structure will be discussed and potentially set at a public meeting on Tuesday, September 10 at 10:00 a.m. This meeting will allow residents to gain insight and provide feedback directly at the Denton County Administrative Courthouse, according to Denton County’s website.
The notice, which was released to comply with section 152.013(c) of the Local Government Code, openly lists both current and proposed salaries for a range of official positions from the County Clerk to the Probate Court Judges. The County Clerk's proposed annual paycheck is set to increase from $144,177 to $152,944, with the District Clerk and Tax Assessor/Collector seeing similar increments. It's important to note that, per the notice, the allowance amounts for these positions are not slated to change.
In terms of law enforcement, the County Sheriff is up for a substantial raise, with a proposal to set the salary at $192,604, up from $181,563. However, the document outlined, "Annual salaries are a calculation of each official’s bi-weekly salary times 26 pay periods," indicating that fluctuations in actual yearly income are possible due to pay period alignments, as per Denton County’s website.
The proposal also includes adjustments for Judges, with District Judges' salaries being bolstered by state supplements based on their tenure, and a new County Court Judge position effective from January 1, 2025, set to receive an annual county supplement. The new salaries aim to reflect the complexity and the growing demands of the roles in question, to ensure that officials are not only fairly compensated but also to possibly make these public service positions more attractive to qualified candidates.
