A state salary review panel is recommending that Utah judges get a 1.5 percent pay bump and that the governor and other elected leaders receive cost-of-living increases.
The report on state compensation found that, while the state’s judges typically earn above the national average, they’re still making far less than they might in private practice. This pay gap could be discouraging qualified attorneys from applying for open judgeships, the Elected Official and Judicial Compensation Commission reported.
“The applicant pool is primarily coming from a lot of public sectors and not much from private sectors,” David Clark, commission chair, told a group of state lawmakers Tuesday.
The group recommended a yearly 1.5 percent pay increase and cost-of-living adjustment for judges, subject to annual review by the commission.
The proposed hikes to judicial salaries — which currently range from $162,250 per year for district judges to $178,500 for a Utah Supreme Court justice — would cost the state an additional $294,000 in fiscal 2020, the report found.
The commission determined that current pay levels are adequate for the governor, who is slated to earn about $157,000 in fiscal 2019, and for the lieutenant governor, attorney general, state auditor and state treasurer. These officials should still receive cost-of-living adjustments, the commission advised.
The compensation commission, an appointed, six-person body, each year takes a look at the pay of constitutional officers, state judges and members of the Utah State Board of Education. The group wants to shed this third responsibility, pointing out that education board members’ pay is tied by law to the earnings of state lawmakers.
On Tuesday, the Executive Appropriations Committee agreed to advance a bill making this statutory change.
The full Legislature will also consider the commission’s salary recommendations.
