Harris County put $305,000 in the draft budget for 14 offices in one morning. Nine officials also got $408,390 to release claims.

On August 6 the Harris County Commissioners Court directed the budget office to put a $305,000 salary in the draft fiscal 2027 budget for 14 elected offices, and approved agreements releasing claims that paid the eight constables $45,000 each and the fire marshal $48,390. The court’s own record shows four separate motions on one agenda item.

Why it matters

A salary recurs, and once $305,000 is the number for one office it becomes the comparison every other office uses. The county applied it to 14 in the same budget year it raised the combined tax rate to 67.147 cents. The claim-release payments are one time and total $408,390.

By the numbers

$305,000, the fiscal 2027 salary directed into the draft budget, per office
8 constables, 1 fire marshal, and 5 more offices: county attorney, district attorney, district clerk, county clerk and tax assessor-collector
14 offices at that figure is $4,270,000 a year in salary
$360,000 to the constables, $45,000 each, plus $48,390 to the fire marshal, for $408,390 in claim-release payments
Constable base pay was about $133,000 before a residents’ committee awarded a 17.5 percent raise in August 2024. About 129 percent to $305,000 in two years
The county treasurer is paid $139,547.20. On September 8 the Salary Grievance Committee recommended $181,411.36 and the court took no action

What the coverage buried

ABC13 reported the $305,000 salary and the one-time $45,000 accurately, and it is the only outlet that printed both side by side. What its story does not say is that the same meeting set $305,000 for five more offices, on a motion by Commissioner Rodney Ellis. That is item 7 in the court’s record for August 6.

Texas Scorecard got closer, reporting that Ellis dropped his opposition after commissioners agreed to consider similar raises for other officials. The record shows something firmer. Ellis moved the five offices into the draft budget himself, and it carried.

Neither story reports how the payments were structured. Item 355 approved “the agreements releasing claims with the eight Elected Constables and the Fire Marshal,” an executive session item filed July 29 as a supplemental addition, heard under Texas Government Code 551.071. The record gives the amount and never gives the claim.

The other side

The parity case is real. Constables run working law enforcement agencies, and the August 6 agenda alone carried Precinct 1 police service contracts and a Precinct 5 federal task force reimbursement. Commissioner Adrian Garcia cited a state representative’s letter arguing constables should be paid closer to the sheriff.

The release of claims has a defense too. If the county’s lawyers judged that nine officials had a claim worth paying, paying it costs less than losing it, and settlements are ordinarily confidential for good reason. But a county can settle a claim and still say what kind of claim it was. This one put the figure in a public motion and left the dispute inside a closed session on an item added a week before the vote.

Note who objects. County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat, is reported to have cast the lone vote against the constable figure, and Texas Scorecard, which comes at the county from the right, wrote it up as a deficit story. The same objection from two directions is usually about the money.

What to watch

Whether the adopted fiscal 2027 budget carries the $305,000 lines. The September 17 budget item, matter 26-6009, is still marked “Agenda Ready,” so its minutes are not final.
The notice of proposed elected official salaries the court directed Human Resources to circulate under Local Government Code Chapter 152, Subchapter B. That is the document that would list all 14 figures in one place.
The Salary Grievance Committee, established August 17 under Local Government Code 152.014(a)(2) from a randomized list plus 65 alternates. It raised constable pay in 2024 and the court overruled it on the treasurer on September 8.
The next regular court date. October 6 is marked cancelled, with no materials posted.

Bottom line

The court picked one number and applied it to 14 offices in a single morning. That is a decision residents can argue with, and it is on the record.

The $408,390 is the part that is not. The county published what it paid nine officials to release claims against it, and nothing about what the claims were.

Sources

Editorial