10:06am: Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval

Report detailing proposed pay raises for judges completed

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Judicial Compensation Commission has completed its report and submitted it to the state legislature.

A copy of the 24-page report was released Tuesday afternoon.

MORE read report here

As MetroNews reported last week, the commission is proposing double-digit pay raises for Supreme Court justices, circuit judges, Family Court judges and magistrates.

The report recommends a 20.56 percent raise for Family Court judges and approximately 18 percent more for the other members of the judiciary.

The proposals increase the annual salaries of justices from $136,000 to $160,894 ($24,894 increase); circuit judges from $126,000 to $149,069 ($23,069 increase); Family Court judges from $94,500 to $113,930 ($19,430 increase) and magistrates from $57,500 to $68,028 ($10,528 increase).

Commission chairman, WVU College of Law Dean Greg Bowman, told MetroNews the report is 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.

What happens next with the report is up to the legislature. 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.





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