Arkansas' commission that sets the salaries of the state's elected officials on Friday proposed increasing the salaries of the state court judges and prosecutors by 2% and compounding that with a 5% raise.
With commissioner Tommy May dissenting, the Arkansas Independent Citizens Commission voted 6-1 to propose the pay raise package for state court judges and prosecutors. The other commissioners include Chairwoman Annabelle Tuck, Phillip Fletcher, Frank Guinn, Jonathan Rogers, Clark Smith and Jan Zimmerman.
The commission proposed the pay raises about a month after officials representing the state's court judges and prosecuting attorneys asked the commission to grant pay raises to help them keep up with inflation.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson authorized a 2% increase for executive branch employees in February, citing rising inflation, and authorized state agencies in the executive branch in May to use up to 5% of their total payroll costs for merit raises for fiscal 2023, which started July 1.
The salary of the chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court is $205,324 a year, while the salaries of the six associate justices on the state Supreme Court are $190,126 a year.
Judges on the state Court of Appeals make $184,497 a year, and the chief judge on that court is paid $187,311.
Circuit court judges are paid $180,129 a year, and state district court judges are paid $157,613 a year.
Full-time prosecuting attorneys are paid $171,122 a year, while part-time prosecuting attorneys are paid $145,454 a year.
The salaries of full-time prosecuting attorneys have been set at 95% of the salaries of circuit judges and the salaries of the part-time prosecuting attorneys have been set at 85% of the salaries of the full-time prosecuting attorneys, Teresa Howell, president of the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association, told the commission about a month ago.
Smith made the motion Friday to propose increasing the salaries of the state's court judges and prosecutors by 2% and compounding that increase with a 5% raise.
He said the requested pay raises are warranted and the private sector is increasing salaries because of rising inflation.
"We can't say the money is not there," Smith said, referring to the state's tax revenues.
But May said the proposed pay raises are about 3% more than the pay increases granted in the banking industry and he's worried about a potential recession on the horizon.
Tuck, a former state Supreme Court Justice, said she is aware that encouraging people to run for judgeships is difficult, and there are other difficulties beyond a potential pay cut for lawyers in private practice who are weighing running for a judicial post.
Sometimes people have to put their children through college and can't afford to take a pay cut from the private practice of law to be a judge, she said.
The commission decided to meet Nov. 18 to accept additional public comment on the proposed pay raises for state court judges and prosecutors and take final action on the proposal. The public also can provide written comment on the proposed pay raises at the commission's website at www.citizenscommission.arkansas.gov.
During its meeting Friday, the commission didn't discuss raising the salaries of the state's constitutional officers and state lawmakers.
Asked afterward whether the commission intends to freeze the salaries of the state's constitutional officers and lawmakers, Tuck said "we just wait for them to request [pay raises].
"We did raise legislators' salaries last year because they never asked and we have done that before," she said. "But we can do that at a subsequent meeting. It is not forever. It is not like we are saying, 'We are not going to meet a year from now.' We can meet again."
Tuck noted "we are in the middle of an election cycle so many times [state elected officials] don't want to make a request." The general election is Nov. 8.
The governor's salary is $158,739 a year, while the attorney general's salary is $146,355 a year and the secretary of state's salary is $101,322 a year. The salary for the treasurer, auditor and land commissioner is $95,693 a year each. The salary for lieutenant governor, which is considered a part-time post, is $46,704 a year.
Salaries for state lawmakers, except for the Senate president pro tempore and speaker, are $44,356 a year. Salaries of the Senate president pro tempore and House speaker are $50,661 a year.
Arkansas State Budget Director Robert Brech addresses members of the Arkansas Independent Citizens Commission at the Arkansas State Capitol on Friday. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Colin Murphey)