As of July 10, 2026, this story has moved well past the pay dispute. Givens resigned from the bench in December 2025 to challenge incumbent DA John Creuzot, and in March 2026 she beat him in the Democratic primary, 54% to 46%. With no Republican on the ballot, she’s the presumptive next Dallas County DA and will take office in January 2027. Her separate appeal of the judicial-conduct sanctions was tried before a three-judge Special Court of Review in Austin in late February 2026, and that panel has not yet issued a ruling. As of June 2026, Givens said the outgoing DA’s office was not cooperating with her transition, forcing her to file public records requests for basic operational information.
Last updated: July 2026
The Dallas County judge pay lawsuit ended with a win for the judge who filed it, but it exposed something far messier than a budget dispute. Dallas County’s 282nd District Judge Amber Givens filed a lawsuit alleging commissioners unlawfully excluded her from $25,000 in supplemental pay approved for every other district judge in the county during a budget meeting on September 9, 2025.
She was the only judge singled out. Every other district judge got the money. She did not.
The case raised serious questions about judicial independence, elected judge accountability, and whether a county government can legally use the budget process to punish a sitting judge. This article covers the full story: who filed it, why, what the law says, and how it ended.
One number anchors everything: Dallas County budgeted a collective $500,000 in supplemental pay for its judges, and the payment plan excluded Givens beginning October 1, 2025.
What Is the Dallas County Judge Pay Lawsuit About?
The Dallas County judge pay lawsuit is about one thing: whether county commissioners can legally exclude a single elected district judge from supplemental pay given to all other judges.
Givens alleges this move violates the Texas Government Code, which states all district judges in a county are entitled to equal supplemental compensation.
The facts are not in dispute. The commissioners voted. Every judge got the supplement. Givens did not. Her lawsuit asked a court to order the county to pay her equally and to provide back pay for any money withheld.
It sounds simple. But the backdrop made it complicated. Givens had just been sanctioned by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct three months before the vote. That context is everything.
| Key Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Plaintiff | Judge Amber Givens, 282nd District Court |
| Defendants | Dallas County, Dallas County Commissioners |
| Filed | September 2025 |
| Relief Sought | Equal supplemental pay, back pay, temporary injunction |
| Outcome | Givens received her $25,000 supplement in October 2025 |
Who Is Judge Amber Givens of the 282nd District Court?
Judge Amber Givens is an elected criminal court judge who has presided over Dallas County’s 282nd Judicial District Court since 2015.
Givens was elected to the bench in 2014 and has been a leader pushing for criminal justice reform. She has held seminars to educate underserved communities about the criminal justice system and created programs to reduce recidivism.
The 282nd is one of 20 criminal district courts in Dallas County. It handles serious felony cases. Givens has held the seat through multiple election cycles.
Her tenure became controversial in 2022 and 2023. Documents show that in 2022, more than 100 recusal motions had been filed against her in a short period. Lawyers and prosecutors accused her of making unfair rulings and treating lawyers with disrespect. Those complaints eventually triggered a formal state investigation.
Key Takeaway: Givens is an elected judge with a decade on the bench, but her record of conduct became the unstated justification for her exclusion from supplemental pay.
Why Was Judge Givens Excluded From Dallas County Supplemental Pay?
Givens was excluded from supplemental pay because county commissioners, led by Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins, moved to vote on her separately during the FY2026 budget process.
During a discussion about how supplemental pay is doled out to the county’s judges, Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins moved to amend the fiscal year 2026 budget by giving everyone but Givens the additional $25,000. “I’d like to make a friendly amendment, perhaps, or maybe it’s not friendly, but I would like to vote on Amber Givens separately given all that stuff,” Jenkins said.
“All that stuff” was Jenkins’ indirect reference to the state sanctions. The commissioners approved the amendment. Givens’ name was simply removed from the budget line.
While commissioners didn’t spell out their reasoning for excluding Givens from supplemental pay, commissioners have avoided tying judges’ performance to supplemental pay, but Givens isn’t the only judge with which commissioners have issues.
- Budget meeting date: September 9, 2025
- Vote: Commissioners approved exclusion of Givens
- Reason stated publicly: None formal
- Implied reason: State sanctions for judicial conduct
What Happened at the September 9 Dallas County Commissioners Court Vote?
The September 9 vote was a regular budget hearing that turned into a defining moment for judicial independence in Dallas County.
On September 9, in a public special called session, the commissioners court voted to pay supplemental compensation to every other Dallas County district judge, while deliberately excluding Judge Givens beginning October 1, 2025.
The meeting was recorded. Jenkins’ amendment was audible on the record. A commissioner was also heard saying, “I’m asking you to take Amber Givens out for a separate vote.”
The budget amendment passed. That single vote removed Givens from the pay schedule. It set everything that followed in motion. Givens filed her lawsuit within a week.
| Vote Timeline | Event |
|---|---|
| September 9, 2025 | Commissioners court votes to exclude Givens from supplement |
| September 15, 2025 | CBS Texas reports on the lawsuit filing |
| September 17, 2025 | KERA News publishes full case background |
| October 6-7, 2025 | KERA reports commissioners will vote to include Givens |
| October 2025 | Commissioners amend budget; Givens receives supplement |
What Texas Law Did Judge Givens Invoke in Her Lawsuit?
Givens grounded her lawsuit in the Texas Government Code, which governs how counties may pay district judges supplemental compensation.
Under Texas Government Code Chapter 32, the commissioners court of a county may pay the judges of the district courts having jurisdiction in the county additional compensation for extrajudicial services performed by the district judges.
The key word is “judges,” plural. The statute does not authorize selective application to some judges and not others within the same class.
The maximum county judicial supplement for a district judge is $25,000 under the current judicial salary structure effective September 1, 2025.
Givens’ attorney argued that singling her out violated both the statute and her constitutional rights to equal treatment. The argument was straightforward: if all district judges in Dallas County are entitled to the supplement, removing one violates the legal framework governing that pay.
What Is a Temporary Restraining Order in a Judge Pay Dispute?
A temporary restraining order, or TRO, is an emergency court order requiring a party to stop or continue a specific action while a case works its way forward.
In the Givens case, her lawsuit sought a TRO to require the county to pay her the same supplement as all other district judges while the full case proceeded. It was designed to prevent irreversible harm, specifically, the loss of pay she was legally entitled to, before a judge could hear the full merits.
Think of it like a hold placed on a construction project while neighbors dispute a permit. It does not decide the underlying issue. It preserves the status quo until a court can weigh in properly.
The lawsuit sought a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction requiring Givens be paid the same amount as all other Dallas County district judges pending final judgment.
The TRO request signaled the urgency. Givens was not willing to wait months for a budget amendment hearing. She wanted the court to act immediately.
Key Takeaway: Givens pursued emergency legal relief because every month of delay cost her $2,083 in withheld pay, and the legal basis for her exclusion was, at minimum, highly questionable.
What Role Did Commissioner Clay Lewis Jenkins Play?
Clay Lewis Jenkins, as Dallas County Judge, chairs the commissioners court and holds significant influence over how budget votes proceed.
Jenkins moved to amend the fiscal year 2026 budget to give everyone but Givens the additional $25,000. His office declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Jenkins was the architect of the exclusion. He introduced the amendment. He framed it carefully, without spelling out his reasons, relying instead on the vague reference to “all that stuff” to signal his meaning to fellow commissioners.
The vote to include Givens in the budget amendment barely passed in October, with Jenkins abstaining.
That abstention is notable. When the commissioners reversed course under legal pressure, Jenkins did not vote to include her. He stepped back and let others carry the resolution. It was a careful political retreat that left his original position on the record.
What Role Did Commissioner John Wiley Price Play?
Commissioner John Wiley Price voted against Givens’ supplement twice and was the most vocal commissioner about using pay as a performance signal.
Commissioner John Wiley Price voted no to reward Givens and other low-performing judges. “So that the record would be clear, this is about supplement for a judge that in my opinion has not performed,” Price said.
Price also named nine other judges at the September 9 meeting he believed deserved no supplement for poor performance. He did not succeed in removing them, but his comments made clear that a faction of the commissioners court views supplemental pay as an accountability mechanism.
Price named nine other judges at the September 9 meeting he would have voted to not give supplemental pay. “I’m going to be really clear about performance, whether the court embraces it or not, whether or not people show up for work,” Price said.
His position raises a serious systemic question. If the county can use budget decisions to punish elected judges for perceived underperformance, what protections do those judges have?
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct Sanction Explained
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct sanction against Givens was the direct trigger for the pay dispute. Understanding it matters.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct reprimanded Givens on June 23 for allowing her coordinator to impersonate her online four years ago, according to disciplinary documents.
The incident occurred during a Zoom hearing in 2021. Givens’ court coordinator allegedly impersonated her, handling judicial matters Givens was supposed to handle herself. Defense lawyers filed a complaint. The Kaufman County DA investigated but declined to bring criminal charges.
The commission concluded that Givens should be publicly admonished for failing to comply with and maintain professional competence in the law, among other failures. Givens’ failures constituted willful and persistent conduct that is clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of her judicial duties.
Givens was also admonished for two separate 2023 incidents in which she sentenced a man to jail and revoked another man’s bond after she had already been recused from both cases.
Key Takeaway: Givens faced two sets of sanctions in June 2025, three months before the budget vote that excluded her from supplemental pay.
What Did Attorney Nuru Witherspoon Argue?
Nuru Witherspoon, Givens’ attorney, framed the case as a constitutional equal rights issue, not simply a budget dispute.
Witherspoon said Dallas County’s actions are discriminatory, arbitrary, and in direct violation of state law. “When you single out an elected judge, it undermines the public confidence and whether or not the justice system is equal,” Witherspoon said. “It might suggest unequal treatment in the justice system if judges are being treated unequal by the county.”
Witherspoon’s argument operated on two levels. First, it invoked the black-letter text of the Texas Government Code. Second, it framed the exclusion as a threat to the independence of the judiciary itself.
Witherspoon said the county had violated Givens’ constitutional rights after the vote to include her finally passed.
The argument proved persuasive in the court of public opinion, even before a judge could rule on the merits. The commissioners reversed course within weeks.
How Much Supplemental Pay Do Dallas County District Judges Receive?
Dallas County district judges can receive up to $25,000 per year in supplemental pay from the county, on top of their state-set base salary.
The maximum county judicial supplement for a district judge is $25,000 under the judicial salary structure effective September 1, 2025.
The state base salary for a Texas district judge, effective September 2025 following a Texas Legislature pay raise, provides the foundation. The county supplement is discretionary, paid for extrajudicial services, but in practice it is paid uniformly to all district judges in counties that authorize it.
| Compensation Type | Amount (FY2026) |
|---|---|
| State base salary (district judge, 0-4 yrs) | $140,000+ |
| Maximum county supplement | $25,000 |
| Total maximum from state and county sources | Subject to Gov’t Code cap |
| Givens’ withheld supplement (Oct 2025) | $25,000 per year |
| Per-month withheld | Approx. $2,083 |
The total Dallas County supplement budget for all judges was $500,000, covering roughly 20 criminal district court judges.
Did Judge Givens Win Her Lawsuit Against Dallas County?
Yes. Givens effectively won. Givens was eventually designated that pay in October after suing the county, alleging she was wrongfully excluded from the supplement.
The resolution did not come through a court ruling on the merits of the case. It came through a commissioners court budget amendment. The threat of litigation, combined with the legal vulnerability of the original exclusion, pushed commissioners to act.
County commissioners voted to amend the fiscal year budget to include her extra pay. The vote barely passed. Jenkins abstained. Price voted no again. But it passed.
Whether the lawsuit itself will proceed to a full ruling on constitutional and statutory grounds is not publicly confirmed as of early 2026. The practical outcome is clear: Givens got her money.
How the October 2025 Budget Vote Resolved the Pay Dispute
The October 2025 commissioners court vote was the moment the Dallas County judge pay lawsuit moved from courtroom threat to budget line item.
Givens, who presides over the 282nd District Court, sued Dallas County within a week of commissioners singling her out as the lone judge excluded from a budgeted $500,000 pay supplement. After suing Dallas County, Givens will receive a $25,000 pay supplement county commissioners withheld.
The vote barely passed. Jenkins, who originally moved to exclude Givens, abstained on the resolution to include her. Price voted no for the second time, restating his performance rationale on the record.
The resolution highlights how quickly legal pressure can shift a government body’s position. The commissioners did not change their minds about Givens’ performance. They changed their minds about the legal risk of the exclusion.
What Happens When Elected Judges Are Sanctioned in Texas?
When elected judges in Texas are sanctioned by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, the consequences depend on the severity of the misconduct.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct can issue private or public admonishments, public reprimands, public warnings, orders of additional education, and suspensions. Removal from office requires a formal Court of the Judiciary proceeding.
The commission concluded that Givens should be publicly admonished for failing to comply with and maintain professional competence in the law, a finding that her conduct was willful and persistent and cast public discredit upon the judiciary.
What a sanction cannot do, under current Texas law, is automatically reduce a judge’s pay or strip their supplements. That is exactly what the commissioners tried to do indirectly through the budget process. The Givens case tested whether that workaround was legal. The answer, based on the outcome, was no.
Key Takeaway: Texas law provides no direct mechanism for reducing a sanctioned judge’s pay, and the Givens case showed that using the budget process as an indirect punishment carries serious legal risk.
Judge Givens Filing for Dallas County District Attorney 2026
After winning her pay dispute, Givens made a move that dramatically changed her story’s trajectory.
Dallas County 282nd District Court Judge Amber Givens filed to run against current District Attorney John Creuzot for his job, according to the county Democratic Party. Creuzot has held the position since he was elected in 2018.
Givens, elected to the bench in 2014, will give up her position to run for DA. She first faced controversy when the State Commission on Judicial Conduct sanctioned her twice in June.
Running for DA means Givens will vacate the 282nd District Court bench. The pay lawsuit, the sanctions, and the public attention surrounding both appear to have accelerated her decision to seek a different elected position.
Creuzot responded tersely: “Anyone is free to run for office. The issues will be debated, and ultimately the voters will decide the outcome.”
Whether the pay lawsuit and its resolution help or hurt Givens in a DA race remains to be seen. Her attorney framed the lawsuit as a victory for equal treatment under law. Her critics have more material to work with.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Dallas County judge pay lawsuit about?
The Dallas County judge pay lawsuit is about Judge Amber Givens suing Dallas County for excluding her from $25,000 in supplemental pay given to every other district judge in the county.
She alleged the exclusion violated the Texas Government Code and her constitutional right to equal treatment.
The lawsuit was filed in September 2025 and resolved in October 2025 when commissioners voted to include her in the supplement.
Did Judge Amber Givens win her lawsuit against Dallas County?
Yes, Givens effectively won. After suing Dallas County, Judge Amber Givens received her $25,000 supplement after county commissioners voted to amend the fiscal year budget to include her extra pay.
The vote barely passed, with one commissioner abstaining and one voting no again.
No court issued a final ruling on the constitutional merits; the resolution came through a budget amendment.
How much supplemental pay do Dallas County district judges receive?
Dallas County district judges can receive up to $25,000 per year in county supplemental pay on top of their state base salary.
The total FY2026 supplement budget for all Dallas County district judges was $500,000.
Givens was the only judge excluded from that pool in the original budget vote.
What law did Judge Givens cite in her lawsuit?
Givens cited the Texas Government Code, which governs supplemental compensation for district judges and requires equal treatment across judges in the same county.
Her attorney argued that singling out one elected judge for exclusion from a county-wide pay supplement was both discriminatory and a violation of state statute.
No court issued a final ruling on whether the exclusion violated those provisions before the budget was amended.
Why was Judge Givens sanctioned by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct?
The Texas commission reprimanded Givens on June 23 for allowing her coordinator to impersonate her online during a Zoom hearing in 2021.
She was also admonished for issuing orders in cases from which she had already been recused, affecting at least two defendants.
The Kaufman County DA investigated the Zoom impersonation incident but declined to bring criminal charges.
The Dallas County judge pay lawsuit was brief, but what it revealed matters. An elected judge was singled out for exclusion from pay that the law requires be distributed equally. Legal pressure reversed the decision within weeks.
If you are following Dallas County politics or the 2026 DA race, this case is the essential background. Givens is now a candidate running on a platform of equal justice under law, a phrase that took on specific meaning the moment her name was removed from a budget line.
Watch the DA race closely. The story is not over.
