Primary Department: Probate Courts
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: James Horwitz
Secondary Department: Choose an item.
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable):
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable):
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable):
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable):
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable):
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): Choose an item.
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request by Probate Court No. 4 for approval of a one-time, lump sum salary supplement in lieu of payments over 26 pay periods from the Judicial Maintenance Fund also known as the Probate Support Fund - 2161 for staff retention incentive.
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Background and Discussion:
These salary supplements are intended to serve as a retention incentive to retain and maintain qualified court staff. These incentives are especially important given the ongoing challenges our court staff faces due to increased workloads and no budget to hire additional staff. In order to incentivize retention, the payments will be made to staff employed as of March 6, 2026, to be effective on March 7, 2026 and will be paid on March 27, 2026.
The National Center for State Courts recommends that there be one Probate Court for every 500,000 residents. In Harris County, we have one Probate Court for every 900,000 residents. The only way we can continue to sustain our current level of service is to retain qualified and experienced court staff.
Additionally, these supplements have traditionally been provided as a one-time lump sum rather than distributed over time, which offers an added incentive for our valued court staff.
Expected Impact:
There will be no fiscal impact on the current general fund budget. Fiscal impact will be on the Judicial Maintenance Fund also known as the Probate Support Fund - 2161.
Alternative Options:
County Strategic Plan Goal: Choose an item.
County Strategic Plan Objective: Choose an item.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): Choose an item.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): Choose an item.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): Choose an item.
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
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$72,300.15 |
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$72,300.15 |
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$72,300.15 |
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Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
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Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
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Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
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Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
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Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
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Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new Position Control Numbers (PCN)s) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
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Additional Positions Request |
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County Attorney’s Office Legal Review (for Harris County Code Items only) |
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CAO Review Completion Date |
Click or tap to enter a date. |
Anticipated Court Date: 12/11/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 12/11/2025
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Jose Martinez, Court Manager, Probate Court 4
Attachments (if applicable):