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State's attorney urges pay increase for assistants amid hiring crunch
Summary
Iroquois County State's Attorney Mike told the committee that assistant prosecutor salaries should rise to retain staff, citing fewer law-school applicants, tier-2 pensions, and competition from a new state public defender office.
State's Attorney Mike told the committee that he filed a letter supporting adjustments to the 2027 budget to make assistant state's attorney positions more competitive. "There is going to be, I wouldn't even wanna be in the shoes of whoever succeeds me," he said, arguing the county will face difficulty hiring replacements at current salary tiers.
Mike cited structural factors he said are shrinking the hiring pool: fewer people attending law school, the 2011 tier-2 pension that he said is less attractive than the older tier-1 benefits, and a recently created state Office of the Public Defender that may steer new attorneys into state positions. "The legislature a few years ago passed the statute to create the state of Illinois office of public defender," he said, adding the state office may change recruitment dynamics and pay scales. Committee members discussed current assistant pay and asked for specific salary figures and comparisons as part of deliberations.
