23% more, prosecutor group tells pay panel

Raise is pitched for job longevity

Prosecuting Attorneys Association President Larry Jegley, who is the prosecuting attorney in the 6th Judicial Circuit.
Prosecuting Attorneys Association President Larry Jegley, who is the prosecuting attorney in the 6th Judicial Circuit.

Arkansas' citizens salary commission should increase the annual salaries for 25 full-time prosecuting attorneys in Arkansas from $123,162 to $152,000 a year so their pay is 95 percent of the compensation for circuit judges, the president of the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association told the commission Thursday.

Last month, the salary commission boosted the annual salaries for the state's circuit judges from $140,372 to $160,000. The association's proposal would come to a 23 percent raise for prosecutors.

Forty-nine of the 121 circuit judges are former prosecuting attorneys or deputy prosecutors, said Prosecuting Attorneys Association President Larry Jegley, who is the prosecuting attorney in the 6th Judicial Circuit, which covers Pulaski and Perry counties.

"I don't think that the prosecuting attorneys' offices ought to be a farm club for the judiciary," he told the commission, with five of its seven members on hand for a meeting in the state Capitol in Little Rock.

"But let's face it, when you have a differential of 10, 13 [or] 17 percent, that's a pretty attractive pay raise by anybody's book," Jegley said.

"Make it attractive for people to be career prosecuting attorneys," he said. "For the future, you want to get people of good conscience, people of highest integrity and legal ability to serve as your prosecuting attorneys."

In addition, circuit judges in the judicial retirement system are eligible for full retirement benefits after 25 years of service and the retirement benefit for some of them can be about 80 percent of their salaries, while prosecutors and other state employees in the public employees retirement system are eligible for full retirement benefits after 28 years of service and the average retirement benefit equals about 50 percent of salary, Jegley said.

"Retirement benefits in both the public and private sector is a big deal, and don't ignore it," he said.

Beyond the 25 full-salary prosecuting attorneys, three other prosecuting attorneys in the state are allowed to have limited civil practices as private attorneys in some rural areas underserved by the legal profession, Jegley said. They are paid $103,058 a year.

They are Blake Batson of Arkadelphia in the 9th Judicial Circuit-East, Bryan Chesshir of Nashville in the 9th Judicial Circuit-West and David Ethredge of Mountain Home in the 14th Judicial Circuit, said prosecutor coordinator Bob McMahan.

Historically, they have been paid 85 percent of the annual salaries of the other prosecuting attorneys and "they are not getting rich off of the civil practice," Jegley said. The Arkansas Legislature is studying whether to no longer permit them to have limited civil practices, he said.

Jegley said salaries of prosecutors and circuit judges were once nearly even, with the prosecutors earning up to 96 percent as much as the judges during the 1970s.

Prosecutors' salaries equaled 87.7 percent of circuit judges' salaries before the commission increased the salaries for circuit judges last month, he said. With the judges' raise, that figure stands at 77 percent.

He said Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and five other states already link prosecuting attorneys' salaries to judges' salaries and two others are considering doing so.

Salaries for Oklahoma's prosecuting attorneys are 98 percent of judges' salaries, he said.

The district prosecutors in Oklahoma are paid $129,198 a year and the salary may be supplemented by as much as 25 percent in counties having a population of at least 400,000, according to the Bureau of Legislative Research.

Missouri's county prosecutors are paid $133,716 a year and will get a raise to $139,059 on July 1, the bureau said. Their salaries are equal to the compensation of associate circuit judges.

While recommending the pay raises for the 25 full-time prosecutors, Jegley didn't take a stance on pay for the three other prosecutors who have limited civil practices.

After the commission's meeting, Chairman Larry Ross of Little Rock said he'll have to study Jegley's pay proposal.

"I don't have an initial reaction to it," Ross said.

"[Prosecuting attorneys] are just as germane to the process as anybody else, including all the other branches [of government]," Ross said.

He said he expects the commission members to take their recommendations to the commission's next meeting on April 30 and "if we get to that point where someone makes a motion, we'll proceed with it.

"We are not going to belabor it," Ross said.

The Independent Citizens Commission was created under Amendment 94 to the Arkansas Constitution, which voters approved in November. It was given the job of setting salaries for elected officials, and its members were appointed by Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy; then-House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot; then-Gov. Mike Beebe; and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Hannah.

Amendment 94 also increased the amount of time that lawmakers may serve in the House, Senate or both chambers to 16 years; prohibited state elected officials from accepting certain gifts from lobbyists; and prohibited direct campaign contributions from corporations and unions to state elected officials.

But the amendment omitted any mention of prosecuting attorneys.

Act 559 -- enacted by the Legislature this year -- requires the commission to set prosecutors' pay as well.

The commission is required to make its initial recommendation by May 15, and it may accept public comment for up to 45 days before deciding whether to approve or reject its initial recommendation.

In addition to Ross, those on the commission are Mitch Berry of Little Rock, Chuck Banks of Little Rock, Barbara Graves of Little Rock, Stuart Hill of Searcy, Brenda James of Little Rock and Stephen Tipton of Cabot.

Last month, the commission approved raises that sent lawmakers' pay from $15,869 to $39,500 a year and increased pay for the speaker of the House and Senate president pro tempore from $17,771 to $45,000 a year.

In exchange, lawmakers agreed to stop receiving up to $14,400 a year in reimbursements for certain office-related expenses. Measures ending those reimbursements were signed into law last month.

In addition to their salaries, lawmakers on average have received about $30,000 a year for per diem (a daily allowance for lodging, meals and incidentals), reimbursements and other expenses. Some lawmakers have collected more than $50,000 in these payments a year during the past several years.

The commission also approved pay raises for the governor, from $87,759 to $141,000; attorney general, from $73,132 to $130,000; secretary of state, from $54,848 to $90,000; treasurer, from $54,848 to $85,000; auditor, from $54,848 to $85,000; land commissioner, from $54,848 to $85,000; chief justice, from $161,601 to $180,000; Supreme Court justices, from $149,589 to $166,500; appeals court chief judge, from $147,286 to $164,000; Court of Appeals judges, from $144,982 to $161,500; and state district judges, from $125,495 to $140,000.

These pay raises became effective March 29. The cost of the pay raises to the state is $4.9 million, state budget administrator Brandon Sharp said.

Metro on 04/17/2015

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