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Compare And Contrast Essay On Texas Judges

1045 Words5 Pages

Lily Craymer
November 8, 2017
Texas Politics

County Court Judges vs Supreme Court Judges
In Texas, County Court judges and Supreme Court judges both have the title of “judge” in their names, but what does that really mean? If someone introduces themselves with the title of a judge, it doesn’t give any specifics on what their public responsibilities are. Both positions have different levels of power, but are equally important. In order to reform Texas laws, one must know how it functions. I chose these topics to compare and contrast to further understand the positions of Texas judges.
County Court judges have a county wide role in government, whereas the Supreme Court judges’ jurisdiction runs statewide. Most county courts handle criminal …show more content…

A County Court judge doesn’t require a law degree because they are an administrator. The County Court judge serves as the chief executive officer for the county, meaning they have executive power over county departments. The County Court judge also controls the Commissioners Court and proposes their county’s budget (Role of the County Judge).
This is different than the Supreme Court judges, who serve specifically as a judicial branch and don’t serve as an executive function. The only administrative function the Supreme Court has relates to the judicial system. For example, the Supreme Court makes the rules for civil cases, and the laws of practice for trials of the entire Texas Judicial system. They set the rules for “the state Office of Court Administration, the Commission on Judicial Conduct, the State Bar of Texas, and other state agencies in the judicial branch of government” (The Justice …show more content…

County Court judges serve for 4 years, where Supreme Court judges serve for 6 years in staggered terms, to ensure tasks get done even when new officials are elected.
The difference in salary is notable. High court judges make $168,000 each year, whereas county court judges make about $125,000 a year (Salaries of Elected State Judges).
The expectations for Supreme Court judges surpasses expectations of County Court judges. Supreme Court judges are expected to be students of the law, competent legal practitioners. They are expected to be open minded, yet just and fair. Supreme Court judges are expected to be politically and socially intelligent.
Though each county has only 1 county court judge, there are 254 counties in the state of Texas (About Texas Courts). There are a significant fewer number of judges compared to the amount of county court judges that exist in Texas. There are 9 Supreme Court justices, which one of whom is the chief justice.
A County Court judge serves as an official, acting for the benefit of the county he or she resides in. This is a great responsibility for said official, as they have the power to make changes at a grassroots level. A Supreme Court judge does not have the same authority to control a local area, however a Supreme Court judge has an equal responsibility to represent the best interest of the state by serving as a fair evaluator of the

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