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JFAC approves judicial pay increase and adds judges, court reporters and IT positions
Summary
The committee voted to fund judicial pay increases (as described in House Bill 322) and to add judges and supporting staff in districts with identified needs, plus technology positions for the judicial branch.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on March 12 approved enhancements for the judicial branch that fund judicial compensation increases and add judicial resources and IT staffing to support court operations.
The motion adopted by the committee added $5,190,300 from the general fund and six full-time equivalent positions for FY2026. The package included funding for judicial compensation as described in legislation referenced in the packet (House Bill 322): increases cited in the packet were 10% for Supreme Court justices, 10.5% for Court of Appeals, 10.9% for district judges and 11.5% for magistrate judges. The package also funded judicial resources that include a new district judge in the First Judicial District (Coeur d'Alene) and one in the Seventh Judicial District (Bonneville County) and included two new magistrate judges (one noted for the Fifth Judicial District in Twin Falls and one in the Seventh Judicial District in Idaho Falls). Each new district judge was paired with a court reporter allocation.
The motion included funding to complete IT positions partially funded in FY2025. The overall appropriation represented approximately a 5.5% increase in the judicial branch FY2026 budget compared with FY2025. Senator Cook moved the package and Representative Galavish seconded; the combined joint committee vote recorded 17 ayes, 3 nays, 0 absent/excused and the motion will carry a due-pass recommendation.
Analysts and the judiciary emphasized the compensation package was part of separate compensation legislation (packet references House Bill 322 as the mechanism) and that the judicial resources request was linked to workload and statutory needs in specific judicial districts. Committee staff corrected a minor motion-sheet typo on district/magistrate placements during the presentation and confirmed court-reporter pay adjustments in the motion reflected parity with existing reporters in the branch.
The appropriation will be implemented by the Administrative Office of the Courts following standard hiring and budget-execution procedures. Any statutory authorizations for additional judges (if required) are tracked separately in the related policy bills referenced by the judiciary staff and packet materials.
