CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State lawmakers agreed to give all elected judicial officers, with the exception of county magistrates, a pay raise in the final hours of the 60-day legislative session.
The measure, HB 3111, started in the House of Delegates with a $3,500 raise for magistrates but was taken out and changed by the Senate and sent to the House of Delegates for action Saturday evening.
The bill passed the House on March 31 and it included a $3,500 raise for magistrates, circuit judges and Family Court judges. The Senate passed the reworked bill last Friday to include no raises for magistrates but a total of $15,000 for Family Court judges, $10,000 raises for Supreme Court justices, Intermediate Court judges and circuit judges spread over two years.
The raises won’t take effect until July 1, 2026. The second installment will begin July 1, 2027.
The bill has yet to reach the desk of Gov. Patrick Morrisey.
Some delegates expressed concern about magistrates being eliminated from the pay raise package.
“It’s just a shame that they were taken out of the pay raises,” Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, a former magistrate said. “It’s 35-hundred dollars, not significant to most, but it is significant to our magistrates who get called out in the middle of the night. I’m really disappointed that the pay raise was taken out.”
Delegates asked House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, if the House could add the magistrates back into the bill.
“That would be unacceptable (to the Senate),” Criss said.
The bill also allows for the state to temporarily stop contributing to the employer portion of the judicial retirement fund until the fund’s funding level drops below 125 percent funded. The judicial retirement fund is currently overfunded more than any similar fund in the country at 244 percent.
Criss was asked how the raises would be financed.
“These raises are going to have to be taken care of in general revenue next year,” Criss told House members. “So when we come back here next January we’re going to have to figure out how to pay for them.”
Several lawmakers spoke in favor of the raises.
“Our judicial officers are grossly underpaid to the point where they beyond 50th, many of them beyond 50th, when we rate their compensation with our jurisdictions,” Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, said.
Del. David McCormick, R-Monongalia, said the better the pay the more qualified candidates will run.
“The last thing we need is a shallow pool of people who are vying to be sitting on the bench.” McCormick said.
Magistrates will likely be the focus next year.
“We can come back in here next January and do just that (raise the pay for magistrates),” Del. David Kelly, R-Tyler, said.
The current annual pay for magistrates is $63,250; Family Court judges $103,950; circuit judges $138,600; Intermediate Court of Appeals judges $142,500; and Supreme Court justices $149,600.