Arkansas' citizens salary commission Thursday recommended raising the annual salaries of the state's 25 full-time prosecuting attorneys 23 percent, from $123,162 to $152,000 a year.
The seven-member Independent Citizens Commission's recommendation Thursday heeds a request from Larry Jegley of Little Rock, the president of the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association, to increase annual pay for the 25 so that it reaches 95 percent of the compensation for circuit judges.
In March, the salary commission boosted the annual salaries for the state's circuit judges from $140,372 to $160,000.
The salary committee also recommended increasing the annual salaries for the state's three other prosecutors. The three, who live in rural areas and are allowed to have limited civil practices, would earn $129,200 per year, up from $103,058. That would put those salaries at 85 percent of the other 25 full-time prosecutors' salaries.
The three prosecutors 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.
The commission will consider its recommendations for pay raises for prosecutors during its May 13 meeting after accepting public comment on the proposed salary increases.
Comments may be submitted at the commission's website: citizenscommission.ar.gov.
Scott Trotter, a Little Rock lawyer, told the commission that the National District Attorneys Association's proposed prosecution standards recommend that the annual salaries of the state prosecutors should be at least equal to the salaries of trial judges.
"I don't think that what Mr. Jegley proposes is in any way unreasonable, and [it] can be justified before this commission," he said. "At the very minimum, let's try to go ahead and improve their salaries in a way that I think is overdue."
Trotter said, "We want to try to get good prosecuting attorneys in office, and we don't want them to think of it as just a steppingstone of potentially going on to serve as a circuit judge, where they get a better retirement benefit, to be frank about it."
Eight of the state's 28 prosecutors are new to their posts this year, and four of the former prosecutors were elected as circuit judges last year, said Jegley, who is the prosecuting attorney for Pulaski and Perry counties.
Circuit Judge John Threet, who was the prosecutor for Washington and Madison counties for eight years before he assumed his judge post in January, said the salary disparity between circuit judges and prosecutors is wide although both "face constant scrutiny for daily decisions that have a lasting impact on many."
"The demands faced by prosecutors in their daily job is incomparable to any other profession," Threet wrote in an email to the commission. "The stress on each can take a very quick toll as the decisions can alter the lives of people and often unfold in the media for everyone to scrutinize."
Threet said he hopes the commission will consider the nature of the elected prosecutors' position in making its decision on their salary levels.
No one sent correspondence to the commission opposing the pay raises suggested by Jegley two weeks ago, according to the auditor's office.
Commission member Barbara Graves of Little Rock proposed recommending raising the 25 full-time prosecutors salaries to $152,000 a year. The commission unanimously approved her proposal.
The commission also unanimously voted to recommend pay raises for the thee other prosecutors
Ultimately, prosecutors should be paid the same salary as circuit judges, she said.
Prosecutors were once paid about 96 percent of the salaries of circuit judges years ago, Jegley testified Thursday
Commission member Chuck Banks of Little Rock, a lawyer and former U.S. attorney, told the commission that "I don't believe [the prosecutors] are here bargaining with us.
"I know that they have given careful and considerate thought as to the increase," said Banks, a former deputy prosecutor in Mississippi County.
"It takes a special, special person to devote their career to protecting the citizens of the state," said Banks.
"They need an adjustment, and it needs to be fair and reasonable, and I think it's not unreasonable what they asked [for]," he said.
After the commission meeting, Jegley said he's "very pleased" with the commission's recommendation.
"I think this will encourage folks around the state who get elected prosecutor to stay there and, as I intend to, retire from the job at an appropriate time, and that's good for law enforcement [and] that's good for community safety," he said.
"I am sure there will be some people who have some negative reaction [to the recommended raises], but that's part of it. I don't think it will be very substantial," Jegley said.
"I may be naive, but I think most of the general public won't have a problem with adjusting the salaries that are long overdue," he said.
In addition to Banks and Graves, the other commission members are Mitch Berry of Little Rock, Stuart Hill of Searcy, Brenda James of Little Rock, Larry Ross of Little Rock and Stephen Tipton of Cabot.
The commission was created under Amendment 94 to the Arkansas Constitution, which voters approved in November.
In March, 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 at least $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 a year, state budget administrator Brandon Sharp said.
Metro on 05/01/2015