PROBATE FEES

Harris County probate and county court-at-law judges

accounted for 45 percent of the nearly $21 million in
fees disbursed statewide. Here’s where those fees were
distributed by 200 judges across Texas:
County Total fees paid Percent of statewide total
Harris $9,281,299 45%
Tarrant $2,165,749 10%
Bexar $2,033,730 10%
Denton $1,372,455 7%
Dallas $1,185,875 6%
Travis $881,048 4%
Galveston $516,332 2%
Smith $381,554 2%
Hidalgo $343,038 2%
Fort Bend $307,788 1%
Lubbock $237,496 1%
Potter $178,516 1%
Jefferson $176,257 1%
Llano $154,774 1%
Tom Green $152,358 1%
El Paso $124,949 1%
Other counties $1,358,302 7%

HOW TEXAS PROBATE JUDGES COMPARE

Statewide, eight probate judges approved
annual fees of more than $1 million. Estimated
Here’s how the top 10 compare: average
approved
Rank/judge County Total fees Cases per case
1. Kathy Stone Harris $2,983,607 502 $5,943
2. Mike Wood Harris $2,596,229 492 $5,277
3. Rory Olsen Harris $1,570,553 262 $5,994
4. Polly Jackson Spencer Bexar $1,431,263 139 $10,297
5. Bill McCulloch Harris $1,338,634 345 $3,880
6. Don Windle Denton $1,300,190 221 $5,883
7. Steve King Tarrant $1,115,713 253 $4,410
8. Pat Ferchill Tarrant $1,018,061 264 $3,856
9. Guy Herman Travis $881,048 185 $4,762
10. Tom Rickhoff Bexar $558,044 75 $7,441
Source: Chronicle analysis of electronic fee reports filed by county clerks, Sept. 2009- August 2010
CHRONICLE