SerpApi.Org
TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Travis County District Court Judge Karen Sage ordered on July 13 that 14 jurors will be paid $26,700 for their service in a high-profile trial, due to an early appeal that stretched the case out for nearly two years.
The trial concerned allegations made against former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and Williamson County assistant district attorney Jason Nassour. The Travis County District Attorney moved to dismiss the charges on July 6, according to court records.
Court records show that the jurors for the trial were sworn in on Aug. 13, 2024.
The trial started on Aug. 15, 2024. Prosecutors moved to stay the case on that first day. Sage did not grant this motion, which led those attorneys to appeal her decision. This paused proceedings until the appellate court could issue a decision.
“This Court had no choice but to instruct the jurors to maintain their impartiality, just as if it were an overnight recess. The Travis County District Attorney prosecuted the appeal for almost two
years. On this date, the jurors were finally discharged from their duties,” wrote Sage on July 13.
Texas state law on jury compensation
Texas law requires county courts pay jurors at least $20 for their first day of service and $58 for each subsequent day.
The statute says this compensation is “reimbursement for travel and other expenses” for any full or partial day when a juror attended court “in response to the process of a court.”
A plain language reading of the statute suggests jurors are only compensated for going to the courthouse.
Travis County sends an email, phone call and/or text message to jurors the night before a day when they’re required to attend court.
Also, jurors can ask for the court to donate their compensation to various funds.
Sage initially wrote in her order that “actions taken by county officials have consequences.”
This was crossed out in the final version, and substituted with “citizens of this county who perform their public service should be compensated.”
Court records show jurors physically attended five days of court: Jury selection (Aug. 12, 2024), three trial days (Aug. 13-15, 2024) and the July 13 dismissal hearing.
The judge ordered the Travis County Treasurer to pay each juror $20 for their first “day of service” and “$58 for each day thereafter, i.e., 460 days,” excluding holidays and weekends.
This works out to $26,700 per juror, according to the judge; a combined $373,800 for the 12 jurors and two alternates.
Sage didn’t say how holidays and weekends were different from the 456 unattended workdays.
Beyond the five court days, the jurors’ “public service” appears to have been checking for a call or text, and “maintain[ing] their impartiality” on non-trial days. They were prohibited from discussing the case, learning about those involved, and reading or watching news reports about it; such an instruction doesn’t vanish on weekends and holidays.
While most U.S. courts do not typically meet on weekend days or holidays, Texas criminal court judges can and have ordered trials proceed into weekends, such as in the June trial of Karmelo Anthony.
Had Sage included holidays and weekends, the hypothetical total for 700 days would be $40,562 per juror, or $567,868 combined.
Texas jury payout budget impact
According to page 61 of Travis County’s fiscal year 2026 budget, the county set aside $698,605 for legally mandated trial jury fees for the fiscal year. It also budgeted $156,749 for grand jury fees.
The jurors’ payout in this case will exhaust more than half of the county’s trial jury budget and exceed prior years’ expenses. The county reported it expended $253,700 for jury fees in FY25 and $246,627 in FY24 for jury fees.
If the county pays as much on other trials as it did last year, it will reach FY27 with $71,105 remaining, enough to cover less than 90 trial days. FY 2027 starts in September.
The State Comptroller could, if requested, reimburse the county at a rate of $14 for a juror’s first day and $52 for subsequent ones. That agency issues these payments quarterly. If granted, it would offset most of the expense.
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