HB 141/a SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SALARY INCREASE

Rep Dayan Hochman-Vigil

Actions: [2] HJC/HAFC-HJC [3] DP-HAFC [10] DP/a [12] PASSED/H (52-0) [7] SFC-SFC- DP [8] PASSED/S (33-6)- SGND BY GOV (Feb. 10) Ch. 3.

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 House Bill 141 (HB 141) provides that judges receive a salary increase, removes the salary formulas for magistrates and appropriates $6,048,684 to the Administrative Office of the Court.  

 House Bill 141 (HB 141) provides that beginning July 1, 2024, supreme court justices will receive an annual salary of $232,600. This salary increase for supreme court justices affects the salaries of the judges of the lower courts (court of appeals, district, and metropolitan) as the salaries for those judges are calculated as a certain percentage of the salary of a justice of the supreme court. 

The bill also removes the salary formula for magistrate judges which is currently a percentage of the salary of metropolitan court judge, and replaces it with the requirement that their salaries will be provided by the legislature.   

HB 141 appropriates $6,048,684 from the General Fund to the Administrative Office of the Courts for use in Fiscal Year 2025 and subsequent years to fund judicial salaries.  Unspent funds do not revert.  

 Currently, the legislature sets the salary of all judges through appropriations and the salaries for magistrates are determined by using a formula (a certain percentage of salaries of other judges).    

 On February 6, 2024, the House Appropriations & Finance Committee amended HB 141 in two ways. 

First, it removed the $6,048,684 appropriation.  

Second, it removed the provision in existing law that the annual salary for judges of the supreme court, court of appeals, district court and metropolitan court are to be provided by the legislature in an appropriation act.  The bill now states that the annual salary for magistrates it to be provided by the legislature.  
 

 HB 141 relates to SB 70, HB 113, and HB 115.