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Idaho chief justice asks Legislature for four new judges and higher pay to ease workloads
Summary
The chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court told the House of Representatives the state needs four additional trial judges and higher judicial salaries—proposing trial-court pay near $200,000—to address heavy workloads, recruitment and retention challenges and growing case complexity.
The Chief Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court addressed the Idaho House of Representatives on Jan. 15, urging lawmakers to fund four new judges for high‑workload districts and to consider raising trial court salaries to about $200,000 to improve recruitment and retention.
The chief justice described heavy and varied workloads at the trial level, saying magistrate judges handle everything from warrants to child‑protection hearings and that district judges manage complex felony and civil cases. “If you're going to be a good and faithful judge, you must resign yourself to the fact that you're not always going to like the conclusions you reach,” the chief justice quoted from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to illustrate the demands of the bench.
The request was framed as a response to concrete capacity and…
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