Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Compensation Judges topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission approves justice court judges’ pay adjustment to maintain market range
Summary
The commission approved a pay adjustment for two justice court judges after HR said the Administrative Office of the Courts moved the salary range, resulting in a 7.7% net adjustment to maintain judges’ position within the range.
The Utah County Commission approved a pay adjustment for the county’s justice court judges on March 5 after county HR staff said the Administrative Office of the Courts had moved the salary range.
Ralph Barnes, speaking for county HR, described the judges as a unique staffing category: appointed by the commission but retained by election and subject to ranges set by the Administrative Office of the Courts. Barnes said the office moved the salary range while the county is required to provide at least the equivalent of the county employees’ prior-year average increase. "They moved the range by 5 percent. Thus, 7.7," Barnes said, explaining the combined effect.
Why it matters: County justice court judges are included in the state's pay-range process. The adjustment was presented as a maintenance step to preserve the judges’ position within that range rather than to move them ahead of peers.
Discussion and outcome: Commissioners asked how many judges were affected (Barnes said two) and whether funds were budgeted; Barnes said restricted funds were available and needed commission approval to release them. After a motion and second, the commission voted to approve the adjustment.
Next steps: The commission authorized release of restricted funds to fund the adjustment. No specific vote tally was recorded in the transcript for this item.
Additional context: Barnes said the county is required to give the judges at least what employees received the previous year (2.7%) and that the range movement resulted in the larger 7.7% figure the HR office recommended.
