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Superior‑court judges report turnover, 1,500 average active caseload and opt‑in payroll decisions as HB85 goes into effect
Summary
Judges told the Appropriations subcommittee they face retention challenges and uneven caseloads (roughly 1,500 active cases per judge on average); 161 judges had opted into the new HB85 pay structure by the hearing, and the council requested more senior‑judge days and funding to replace ARPA support for conflict representation.
Superior‑court leadership told the House Appropriations subcommittee on Dec. 18 that while judge turnover is low, other court staff experience higher churn, caseloads vary widely across circuits and the legislature’s compensation changes are prompting a wave of opt‑in decisions.
“We have had 1 death and 3 resignations with a turnover percentage rate of 1.8,” Judge Andrew Hightower said, reporting judge turnover figures for 2025. He also said judicial assistants had 17 resignations (about a 10% turnover rate) and that law clerk positions had 31 resignations with roughly 16 vacancies (about a 25% vacancy/turnover ratio).
Caseloads and scheduling: Hightower said the average active caseload for superior‑court judges across the state is roughly 1,500 cases, but he cautioned that complexity varies and that business‑court‑eligible matters can strain general dockets. He described courtroom processes that push criminal cases toward trial within 6–8 months and use trial weeks to reduce active inventories.
Compensation and opt‑in: The council described the HB85 opt‑in process for judges to move to the new pay structure (there is no opt‑out once opted in). Shannon Weathers (council staff) told the committee that judges must opt in five business days before the first pay period in which they want the increase; in practice that meant a Dec. 23 deadline for judges seeking the January payroll change. Hightower said 161 judges had opted in at the time of the hearing and estimated 200–210 ultimately would do so.
Senior judges and budget requests: The Judicial Council requested increasing senior‑judge days from 7.5 to 10.5 in FY27 to add courtroom capacity; the FY27 incremental cost cited was approximately $635,000. Hightower and council staff said senior‑judge days are often used to staff parallel trial calendars and to clear backlogs, and some judges said a pre‑pandemic level of 15 days would be preferable in some circuits.
Conflict cases and pay scale: The council and GPDC representatives briefed the committee on proposals to move assistant public defenders and other statutory attorneys onto a common pay scale, quantifying requests to annualize step increases and replace ARPA funding for conflict cases; the GPDC reported about 15,465 new conflict cases in FY25 and said roughly 52% involved more than one defendant.
What’s next: Committee members asked for comparison data with neighboring states on caseloads and requested detailed cost breakdowns for pay‑scale annualization, senior judge‑day funding and ARPA replacements. Council staff said they will provide the requested numbers.
