CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the state’s judiciary would get double digit raises if the state legislature goes along with recommendations soon to be made by the state Judicial Compensation Commission.
The commission, created by the legislature three years ago, approved a report this week that would increase the pay of Supreme Court justices, circuit judges and magistrates by approximately 18 percent. The panel is recommending a 20 percent raise for Family Court judges.
That kind of raise would increase the annual salaries of justices from $136,000 to $160,480 ($24,480 increase); circuit judges from $126,000 to $148,680 ($22,680 increase); Family Court judges from $94,500 to $113,400 ($18,900 increase) and magistrates from $57,500 to $67,850 ($10,350 increase).
Commission chairman, WVU College of Law Dean Greg Bowman, told MetroNews the commission discussed whether to propose raises over several years or a single percentage. He said they went with the single percentage because that’s the method that’s been used before by lawmakers.
“We decided to make a recommendation that was in line with the previous practice of the legislature, which is to provide a single suggested raise,” Bowman said.
Between the commission’s first meeting in July and the meeting held earlier this week, its staff researched what judges are paid in other states compared to what governors are paid.
The average salary for Supreme Court justices in other states this year is $179,000 while governors in other states are paid an average of $139,000 annually. In West Virginia, Supreme Court justices are paid $136,000 and the governor $150,000.
Bowman said at Tuesday’s meeting paying justices more than governors is evidently standard in other states.
“Going into the judiciary is a career track. People stay in the judiciary as a career for decades and the same is not true for governorships, people go in and serve a term or two,” Bowman said. “They are very different jobs even though they are both elected officials.”
Bowman told MetroNews the commission’s final report will basically be a market analysis of what fair compensation and competitive compensation for judges should be in West Virginia taking into account all of the factors listed in the statute.
“Our salaries for judges in this state rank 53rd out of 55 states and territories. If you factor in the cost-of-living we are still in the high 40’s,” Bowman said.
The commission’s report will be finalized in the coming weeks and forwarded to the legislature. Bowman said in the end it’s the legislature’s call on what to do with the recommendations.
“It’s now up to the legislature whether they want to do this or something else or as in previous years, implement no raises,” Bowman said.
In December 2017, the commission recommended a 5 percent pay increase for justices, circuit judges and magistrates while the recommendation for family court judges was 7 percent. Lawmakers did not take up the report.
Bowman said West Virginia’s Family Court judges are the only group of judges in the U.S. that have earned a law degree but make less than $100,000 a year.