Senate committee advances bill to raise judges' pay, adds pension changes after testimony from judges

A Senate committee adopted a committee substitute for Senate Bill 589 on a voice vote and voted to report the measure to the full Senate with a recommendation for passage, subject to its original double reference to the Senate Finance Committee.

The substitute would raise annual salaries across the judiciary and add multiple changes to judicial pension rules. Supporters including circuit court and family court judges and the administrative director of the West Virginia Supreme Court testified at the committee hearing about workloads, recruitment challenges and how pension changes could offset some near-term cost.

The committee substitute would increase annual pay roughly to these levels, as presented to the committee: a West Virginia Supreme Court justice to about $167,000; an intermediate court judge to about $159,000; a circuit court judge to about $155,000; a family court judge to about $125,000; and a magistrate to about $76,000. The substitute also adds multiple provisions on judicial retirement and survivor benefits that were not in the bill as introduced.

Why it matters: Committee members said higher pay is intended to help retain and attract qualified judges amid heavy caseloads tied to substance use and family-court dockets, while other members raised concern about removing explicit statutory salary language and giving the…