The chief justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court says inadequate pay threatens the state’s ability to attract the best attorneys to judicial office.
John Minton, Jr. will ask for a five percent raise for all judges and justices in the next state budget. He says a pay hike is long overdue.
"In the last 20 years, Kentucky has fallen farther and farther behind the rest of the country," Minton told WKU Public Radio. "We're well below the national average for our trial court judges. We're dead last in all the states surrounding us."
Kentucky’s judges and justices earn between $112,000 to $140,000 a year. According to the National Center for State Courts, the state’s Supreme Court justices rank 45th in the nation in pay, appellate judges 37th, and circuit judges 42nd.
Minton says low salaries have been compounded by recent reductions in pension benefits for new judges coming on board.
