FRANKFORT, Ky., March 16, 2022 – Chief Justice of Kentucky John D. Minton Jr. had another opportunity to advocate for pay parity for Judicial Branch employees today when he presented the Judicial Branch budget request to the Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations & Revenue. His second appearance before the legislature comes after he first presented his budget recommendation to the House A&R Committee on Feb. 1.
Chief Justice Minton reiterated the gravity of funding his top budget priority, which is a Salary Parity Plan that would put the historically low salaries for court personnel and the elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks on par with salaries for Executive and Legislative branch employees.
Salary Parity Plan
“The main focus of our Judicial Branch budget request is a Salary Parity Plan that, while simple, would be highly effective in creating a more equitable salary scale,” he said. “To implement that plan, we requested a flat $10,000 increase for all court personnel in our Judicial Branch budget recommendation.”
He said that it is not rational for Judicial Branch salaries to be about $7,500 – or 20% less – than those in the Executive and Legislative branches.
“We appreciate the message the Senate is sending by giving Executive Branch employees a $4,500 increase for Fiscal Year 2023 and a potential 10% increase for Fiscal Year 2024,” he said. “And while we would appreciate that same increase for Judicial Branch employees, the fact remains that our salaries will still average $7,500 behind the other two branches. Unless we significantly bump up our entire salary scale, we’ll always be chasing the higher salaries being offered by the Executive and Legislative branches.”
Chief Justice Minton said that an additional $7,500 increase would help to ensure salary parity among the three branches of state government.
“That’s not a big ask when you put it into perspective,” he said. “First, the Judicial Branch has saved state government money for decades with its historically low salary scale. Second, a majority – 54% – of our employees are already in the Tier 3 cash/hybrid retirement plan, which does not carry the same pension burden for the state as it does for employees in Tiers 1 and 2. And finally, because of our low salaries, the Judicial Branch has one of the lowest contribution rates for KERS and CERS for Tier 1 and Tier 2 employees.
“All of that adds up to a reduced financial impact for court operations.”
He said the Judicial Branch is struggling to retain qualified candidates for non-elected positions because of low pay and the turnover rate is alarming. “We’re seeing turnover at about 40% annually for urban areas and critical front-line positions, such as pretrial services specialists. We’ve lost over one-third of our workforce – about 1,000 employees – in the last four years.”
He also said that Kentucky’s justices, judges and circuit court clerks earn substantially less than other elected officials across the state and the nation. Kentucky justices and judges rank at the bottom of judicial salaries nationwide – 53rd among judges in 55 states and U.S. territories. Over the last 12 years, they have received only a 7% overall increase.
“This provides little incentive for the best and brightest attorneys to leave successful law practices and bring their legal knowledge and expertise to the bench,” Chief Justice Minton said. “The longer we postpone action, the more difficult it will be to catch up on lost wages and avoid diminishing the quality of the Kentucky judiciary.”
Circuit court clerks, who serve every county and maintain records and dockets for Circuit and District courts, earn on average about $12,000 or 12% to 14% less per year than elected county officials with similar duties. “Our 120 circuit clerks essentially serve as the front door to the court system and it’s time to give them the equitable pay that they deserve,” he said.
Capital Projects/Case Management System
The Judicial Branch is also requesting funding for a new judicial center in Graves County to replace the courthouse destroyed by a tornado in December, a new judicial center in Leslie County, and capital repair projects in Jefferson and Hardin counties.
The other significant request is for American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide a new statewide trial court case management system. This funding would be used to replace an outdated system at risk of failure with a sustainable technology platform to meet future demands.
More Online
You can find Chief Justice Minton’s complete remarks here. You can watch Chief Justice Minton and Administrative Office of the Courts Director Laurie Givens discuss the Salary Parity Plan in this video. And you can follow the courts on Twitter and Facebook @kentuckycourts.
Background
The chief justice is the administrative head of the Judicial Branch and is responsible for overseeing its budget and operations. The Administrative Office of the Courts in Frankfort is the administrative arm of the state court system. The AOC executes the Judicial Branch budget and supports the activities of nearly 3,300 court system employees and 406 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks.