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Judges press for higher pay for judicial commissioners, more paralegals
Summary
Criminal and juvenile-court judges asked the subcommittee to raise pay for judicial commissioners and to add paralegals and staff; presenters compared local pay to Nashville and requested county support for parity measures.
Judge Massey and judicial staff asked the subcommittee to address pay disparities for judicial commissioners and certain staff positions. The presenters said judicial commissioners are paid significantly less than comparable positions in other counties and asked the commission to consider raises to retain experienced commissioners. "Nashville commissioners are making 165,000," Judge Massey said, and presenters requested higher pay for Shelby County commissioners to reduce turnover.
Kevin Reed, a judicial commissioner, said the office is "at the low end of the scale" compared with magistrates across the state and asked the county to support parity measures. The District Attorney's office and its CAO also discussed the need for additional paralegals to support vertical trial teams and noted prior budget cycles added six paralegals but not the full set originally requested; Jessica Indangaro said the office still needs more paralegals and that implementation timing constrained prior hires.
Commissioners asked for documentation and comparables; the judges and the DA's office said they would supply additional details and clarified that some requests are intended to finish previously started parity work rather than create entirely new regular programs.
