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Council endorses 6% increases for judicial pay in each year of the biennium
Summary
The council adopted the Judicial Administration recommendation—6% raises in 2025 and 6% in 2026—for district, appellate and Supreme Court judges to help recruitment and reflect workload pressures; staff will include comparable figures in the draft report.
The Compensation Council adopted the Judicial Administration recommendation to increase judicial salaries by 6% in 2025 and 6% in 2026. Staff noted the proposal aligns roughly with the legislature’s historical partial adoption and that judicial workloads and security concerns were factors in the request.
Supporters said higher judicial pay is needed to preserve Minnesota’s competitive bench and to reflect increased caseload pressures and security concerns in recent years. The council reviewed comparative national data and the supplemental information submitted by the merit selection commission that included proposed target salaries for court levels.
The motion carried on a roll‑call vote and staff will include the dollar amounts and comparative tables in the draft report circulated before the March 26 meeting. Members discussed but did not add conditions tying implementation to legislative timing; staff advised that conditional language could be politically sensitive and might complicate the council’s technical role.
Next steps: Staff to include recommended dollar figures and explanatory materials (comparative survey and merit‑selection supplemental memo) in the draft report.
