RI’s Top Judges: How Much Do They Make?
Monday, September 12, 2011
Rhode Island’s judges are cashing in at a yearly salary that is above the national average and the second-highest in New England, a survey of judicial salaries shows.
The report, produced annually by the National Center for State Courts, is considered the primary record of compensation for state judicial officers and state court administrators. The most recent survey was released in January and reflects the salaries of judges in each state’s High Court, Interim Appellate Court and General Jurisdiction Court.
Rhode Island is one of eleven states that do not have an Interim Appellate Court.
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The Ocean State checks in a No. 18 in the country when it comes to paying its Supreme Court Justices, offering an annual salary of $160,899 in 2010. The state’s Superior Court Justices are pulling in $144,861 each year, good for the 15th highest-pay of judges across the country.
The national average in the High Court is $151,616 while the average in General Jurisdiction Court is $132,268, but the difference between the lowest-paid judges and the wealthiest ones is more than $100,000 for State Supreme Courts and over $70,000 in State Superior Courts.
By far, judges in California and Illinois are the most generously compensated while those in South Dakota, Montana and Mississippi make the least. In California, Supreme Court judges are making $218,237 and General Jurisdiction judges make $178,789. Superior Court Justices in Illinois make less than $100 more than their California counterparts while the Supreme Court Judges make approximately $11,000 less. The two states are the only ones paying their Supreme Court Justices over $200,000.
Rounding out the list of the five highest paid State Supreme Court Justices are Pennsylvania, Alaska and New Jersey. At the bottom end, along with South Dakota, Montana and Mississippi, judges in Maine and Idaho find themselves at low end of the salary range.
2nd Highest In New England
In New England, only judges in Connecticut are making more than Rhode Island, with State Supreme Court Justices bringing home $162,520 and Superior Court Justices making $146,780.
By comparison, Massachusetts’ High Court judges are making $145,984 and the trial court judges are making $129,694. A 2005 plan in raise salaries by nearly $30,000 in the Bay State was ultimately killed by state lawmakers, although trial court judges have seen their salaries rise by nearly half that amount over the past five years.
According to the report, the annual percent increase in salaries has been decreasing throughout the country in recent years.
“Through January 1, 2011, the annual percent increases in salaries for the courts of last resort and the intermediate appellate courts are slightly higher than in 2009, but still a scant .62% and .46% annual increase, respectively,” the report states. “For general jurisdiction judges, the annual percent increase in salaries continues to decrease, as it has since 2006. For the state court administrators, the percent increase in salaries during 2010 was .84%, virtually the same as in 2009. The average annual increase across all states from January 1, 2010 through January 1, 2011 was just .63%. Given the nation’s extreme debt crisis and the sluggish economic recovery, the near zero average increase in salaries is not surprising. Fortunately, annual inflation for the entire U.S. as measured by the Consumer Price Index is in check at just 1.6% for 2010, limiting the erosion of salary purchasing power.”
Other Changes For Rhode Island Judges
While there has been very little public challenging of the above-average salaries of Rhode Island’s judges or, challenging by the judges to make more, for that matter, state lawmakers have made efforts to curtail some of the judges’ pension perks in recent years.
Judges appointed after July 1, 2009 now received a pension of 80 percent of their final average salary, which is based on their five consecutive years of highest pay. Judges used to be able to retire with up to 100 percent of their pay.
In 2010, a State Senator also questioned whether retired judges should be allowed to receive a pension for legislation while also receiving a salary from the state. The question came up after retired Superior Court Associate Justice Mark Pfeiffer was appointed as receiver for the city of Central Falls.
In a GoLocalProv story last summer, Sen. William Walaska said he planned to introduce legislation that would restrict judges from receiving their pension while also working for the state. In Rhode Island, judges are exempted from a state law that says most public employees, including teachers, state, and municipal workers, can be rehired by a state, city, or town—but for not more than 75 work days, or 150 half days in any one year- without having their pension suspended.
“At a time when the state cannot properly fund education and can’t find the money to reimburse cities and towns for the automobile excise tax – so communities are turning to the property taxpayers – it is simply over the top for a recently retired justice who is already bringing in a six-figure pension to accept that kind of money,” Walaska said at the time. “What ever happened to community service? What ever happened to volunteerism?”
Source: National Center for State Courts
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