A board that considers appropriate judicial compensation is recommending 12% pay raises for judges next year — with a little extra thrown in for family court judges and magistrates.
The five-member Judicial Compensation Commission discussed and voted on the proposed raises Thursday morning. The recommendation isn’t final because it would still need to be considered by the Legislature, which has appropriation power.
“I think it’s important that they are compensated fairly and competitively. It’s very important,” said Amelia Smith Rinehart, dean of the WVU Law School who serves as chair of the committee that also includes two members appointed by the state Senate and two members appointed by the House of Delegates.
The recommended salary adjustments would make pay:
— $167,552 a year for Supreme Court justices. They make $149,600 now.
— $159,600 for intermediate court judges. They make $142,500 now.
— $155,232 for circuit court judges. They make $138,600 now.
— $125,416 for family court judges. That’s the 12 percent plus an additional $10,000 that the compensation committee thought would help justify their hours and difficult, emotional work.
— $75,840 for magistrate judges. That’s the 12 percent plus an additional $5,000.
Committee member Steve Rubin of Charleston noted that the recommendations are being made “with the realization that the budget and other issues are going to be considered, but these judges are certainly providing a tremendous service for us at a cost, and they’re not being fairly compensated.”
He noted that the percentage would add up in overall dollars when applied to each judge in the state, “so it’s a significant amount of money that’s being asked for the court.”
But committee members thought the amount is justified for several reasons.
One is that the Legislature didn’t move forward with last year’s recommendation by the committee. The last raises for judiciary leaders were approved in 2020 and provided bumps that took effect in 2021 and 2022.
So in a period of high inflation, judges haven’t gotten raises to meet increased costs. And, as a related issue, many public employees received raises to offset the increased costs of state-run health plans — but the judges weren’t among those.
The committee also took note of demographic and economic trends, concluding that judges could make as much or more as lawyers in private practice and that many who currently serve on the bench are nearing retirement, enhancing the need to make compensation desirable for qualified candidates to fill the judicial roles.
Finally, the committee discussed the workloads of circuit court judges who are taking on more and more abuse and neglect cases, family court judges who spend their days hearing emotionally-fraught disputes, and magistrates who need to be available 24-7 for the very first line of the judiciary.
The commission brought in representatives of different levels of the judiciary for a discussion of those factors.
“It’s very emotionally challenging work that our judges do and our abuse and neglect docket right now, to be totally frank, it’s drowning our circuit judges,” said Keith Hoover, deputy administrative director and counsel for the state Supreme Court, which oversees the state’s court system.
Roane Circuit Judge Anita Ashley told the commission that West Virginia’s judicial salaries run far behind the rest of the nation.
And, “We do have a significant increase in abuse and neglect cases, which are probably the hardest cases that we deal with. Taking kids away from their parents, having to terminate their parental rights, find a place to put these kids and achieve permanency for them is very difficult. And I think it results in trauma for the judges who have to deal with this.”
Susan Riffle, a family court judge in Marion County, said hourly pay for that position averages less than the Supreme Court pays guardian ad litems for their out of court work.
“And with the compensation that we’re getting that makes it a little more difficult to get quality people to even run for the office,” Riffle said.
Magistrate Joseph Mendez of Logan County told the commission that role is on the front lines of the judiciary and that magistrates must handle legal matters that come up after hours.
“It’s a very rough job and very demanding,” Mendez said, “and we could use a raise if you guys see fit for it.”