HB 2770: Courts; judicial salaries; applicability; exceptions; modifying salary references; effective date; emergency. - Oklahoma

House Committee Substitute → Floor (House) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated from a House Committee Substitute version to the Floor version, reflecting final amendments approved by the legislature. The primary changes involve updating the fiscal year reference from 2025 to 2026 for judicial salary increases, adjusting specific salary amounts for various judicial officers, and reformatting the document header to indicate it is the official Floor version.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding which fiscal year the salary increases apply to was changed from 2025 to 2026, expanding the timeline for the new compensation rates.

TIMELINE

The fiscal year for salary increases was changed from 2025 to 2026 across all sections of the bill.

FISCAL

Specific annual salary amounts for the Chief Justice, Associate Justices, Presiding Judges, and other judges were increased in the Floor version compared to the Committee Substitute.

TECHNICAL

The document header was updated to reflect the 'Floor Version' status, and page numbering/formatting was adjusted to match the final legislative text.

Proposed Committee Substitute (full committee) 2 → House Committee Substitute · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to add two new Senate sponsors, Hall and Haste, to the list of authors. Additionally, the bill number in the footer was updated from 13763 to 13790 to reflect the new committee version. These changes are administrative and technical, updating the legislative record to include new sponsors and correct the bill number.

TECHNICAL

Added two new Senate sponsors, Hall and Haste, to the bill's author list.

Updated the bill number in the footer from 13763 to 13790.

Proposed Committee Substitute (full committee) 1 → Proposed Committee Substitute (full committee) 2 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was revised to update judicial salary figures across multiple courts, including the Supreme Court, Court of Civil Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals, and District Courts. The amendment also reorganized the bill's structure by adding a new section for district court salaries and renumbering subsequent sections. These changes reflect updated compensation levels for judges effective July 1, 2025.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include salary adjustments for district court judges, associate district judges, and special judges, which were previously not detailed in this specific amendment.

FISCAL

Updated annual salary amounts for the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, increasing their compensation to $198,212 and $185,612 respectively.

Increased salaries for judges in the Court of Civil Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals to $179,099 and $192,126 respectively.

Added new salary provisions for district court judges ($167,703), associate district judges ($154,678), and special judges ($141,651).

TECHNICAL

Reorganized the bill's internal numbering and formatting, splitting the original text into distinct sections for different courts and adding a new Section 4 for district court compensation.

Enrolled (final version) → Proposed Committee Substitute (full committee) 1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was completely rewritten by the committee to update judicial salaries for fiscal year 2026 and beyond. The primary change is the replacement of old salary figures with new, higher amounts for the Chief Justice, Associate Justices, and judges of the Courts of Civil and Criminal Appeals. The committee also removed the specific salary increase for district court judges and special judges that was present in the original version.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed to focus exclusively on the Supreme Court and the Courts of Civil and Criminal Appeals, removing provisions that previously included district court judges and special judges.

FISCAL

Salary amounts for the Chief Justice, Associate Justices, Presiding Judges, and Judges of the Courts of Civil and Criminal Appeals were increased to new specific dollar figures.

ELIGIBILITY

Provisions granting salary increases for district court judges and special judges were deleted entirely.

TIMELINE

The effective date for these new salary increases was set to fiscal year 2026.

Engrossed → Enrolled (final version) · 5 edits · May 29, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was finalized as an enrolled version, adding standard signatures from the House, Senate, and Governor to make it official law. The substantive policy changes involve increasing judicial salaries across multiple courts for the 2026 fiscal year and beyond, while also correcting a typo in the effective date from 2025 to 2026 in one section.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include the Court of Criminal Appeals and district court judges, who were not explicitly listed in the earlier engrossed draft.

TIMELINE

The effective date for Section 1 was corrected from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2026, to align with the new salary figures.

SCOPE

Salaries for the Presiding Judge and Judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals were added, increasing their pay from 2025 levels to 2026 levels.

Salaries for district court judges and associate district judges were added, increasing their pay from 2025 levels to 2026 levels.

FISCAL

Salary amounts for the Chief Justice, Associate Justices, Presiding Judge of the Court of Civil Appeals, and Civil Appeals Judges were increased for the 2026 fiscal year.

TECHNICAL

Standard enrolled bill formatting was added, including signatures from the House, Senate, and Governor to finalize the legislation.

Introduced → Engrossed · 4 edits · May 22, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was completely rewritten to shift its focus from a general budget framework to specific judicial salary increases. The new version amends existing statutes to raise pay for judges in the Supreme Court, Courts of Civil and Criminal Appeals, and District Courts, effective July 1, 2025.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from establishing a new budget act to directly modifying specific sections of the Oklahoma Statutes regarding judicial compensation.

FISCAL

Salary amounts for the Chief Justice, Associate Justices, Presiding Judges, and other judges were increased, with specific dollar figures inserted into the text.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the salary changes was set to July 1, 2025, replacing a previous November 1, 2025 date.

SCOPE

The original text creating a new 'Budget and Finance Act' and establishing noncodification was entirely removed.

REQUIREMENT

A requirement was added stating that any salary increases must be paid from existing available funds.

Courts; judicial salaries; applicability; exceptions; modifying salary references; effective date; emergency.

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