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Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s office confirmed Thursday that Attorney General Ken Paxton will not be paid his $153,750 annual salary while he is on suspension.
The state’s top lawyer was removed from office last week and is awaiting his impeachment trial before the Senate, which has not yet been scheduled.
Paxton was suspended from his duties Saturday when the Texas House voted to adopt 20 articles of impeachment ranging from accepting bribes to disregarding his official duties. The vote came two days after an investigative committee unveiled the charges. The committee had been meeting since March after Paxton asked the Legislature to approve the use of taxpayer money for a $3.3 million settlement for four former employees who were fired after accusing him of using his office to benefit a friend and political donor, real estate investor Nate Paul.
On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott named John Scott, former Texas secretary of state, as interim attorney general. Scott receives the same rate of pay as Paxton, $153,750 annually. The compensation for Texas state employees can be found in the Tribune’s Government Salaries Explorer, which is updated quarterly.
In a Tuesday letter to Scott, Rob Coleman, director of the comptroller’s Financial Management Division, said that under the Texas Constitution, “no salary payment may occur to Attorney General Warren Kenneth Paxton while in a suspended status.”
Paxton remains suspended pending the outcome of the trial, which the Senate has said will occur by Aug. 28.
Paxton’s impeachment came less than a year after the Republican attorney general won his third term last November.
“I am beyond grateful to have the support of millions of Texans who recognize that what we just witnessed is illegal, unethical, and profoundly unjust,” Paxton said in a statement on Saturday. “I look forward to a quick resolution in the Texas Senate, where I have full confidence the process will be fair and just.”
Disclosure: The Texas comptroller of public accounts and the Texas secretary of state have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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