Harris County's eight constables, including Precinct 8's Phil Sandlin, will each earn $305,000 a year under a new salary agreement.

The deal also included a one-time $45,000 payment per constable. The raises landed as the county faces a $181 million budget deficit and a proposed property tax rate increase that would hit Clear Lake-area homeowners in the wallet. For a home with $400,000 in taxable value, the proposed rate would mean about $152 more a year in county property taxes, according to KHOU.

ABC13's 13 Investigates obtained copies of the settlement agreements through an open records request. The agreements, signed by all eight constables in late July, were approved by commissioners in August.

Five years ago, constables earned $133,500. The $305,000 salary now exceeds what the U.S. vice president makes, Houston Public Media reported.

Commissioners Court voted 4-1 on Aug. 7 to approve the salary. County Judge Lina Hidalgo cast the lone vote against it. She had spoken against the increase the day before at an agenda review session.

"I am against that, especially given the county budget situation," Hidalgo said at the Aug. 6 meeting, according to ABC13. "I recognize that this needs to match the increases that were given to other politically-influential elected officials, but when we did that, we knew that we didn't have funds for these enormous raises."

The settlement grew out of a dispute over House Bill 4205, a state law that took effect Sept. 1, 2025. The law requires Harris County to apply any pay increase for one class of police officers to all officers, whether they work for constables or the sheriff's office. After constables received an $82,000 raise in October 2025 that brought their pay to $260,000, state Rep. Sam Harless questioned whether the county was correctly following the law. The Harris County sheriff already earned nearly $330,000.

Harless sent a letter to Attorney General Ken Paxton on Oct. 9, 2025, asking whether constables were entitled to the same pay as the sheriff. He later withdrew the request after learning the county and constables had reached a mutual agreement, a spokesperson for Harless told ABC13.

County Attorney Abbie Kamin said the raises were not "necessarily required under state law" but were "recommended and agreed to," according to the Houston Chronicle.

The Harris County Office of County Administration declined to comment further, telling ABC13 the matter was considered in executive session and involves a confidential agreement with law enforcement.

Commissioner Rodney Ellis initially voted against the raises but changed course, saying he would support the constable pay only if the $305,000 salary also applied to most other elected officials, Houston Public Media reported. That condition was met. The district attorney, county attorney, district clerk, county clerk and tax assessor-collector will also earn $305,000, according to Community Impact.

At an Aug. 18 budget discussion, Hidalgo said pay increases account for roughly $300 million of the county's deficit, according to Click2Houston.

The county's Office of Management and Budget has proposed a tax rate of about $0.67 per $100 of property valuation, a 7.6% increase. The rate would be the highest since at least 2006, according to the Houston Chronicle. If the rate exceeds the state comptroller's limit, county residents would vote on the increase in November.

Commissioners are scheduled to discuss the proposed $3.1 billion budget at a special meeting Tuesday, Sept. 8. A final vote on the budget and tax rates is expected by Thursday, Sept. 17. The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Commissioners Court meetings begin at 9 a.m. at 1001 Preston St. in Houston and are available to livestream at agenda.harriscountytx.gov.