Panel recommends state pick up entire cost of district judges' salaries
The Joint Judiciary Committee voted on Monday to recommend to the governor and other state leaders that the state pay the entire cost of district court judges’ salaries, lifting that burden from cities and counties.
By: Josh Snyder
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The Joint Judiciary Committee voted on Monday to recommend to the governor and other state leaders that the state pay the entire cost of district court judges’ salaries, lifting that burden from cities and counties.
The committee also voted in favor of other recommendations about financial issues related to the court system, including the elimination of a $10 monthly installment fee, changing the share of court costs and fees that a district court keeps to a 50/50 split with the state government and moving to an electronic notification system for people with upcoming court appearances.
Its recommendations come as part of a year-long legislative study of the financial matters related to the court system. Act 38 of 2023 required the House and Senate to meet jointly to conduct the study and to file a final written report of its activities, findings and recommendations on or before Oct. 1, 2024, with the governor, Senate president pro tempore, House speaker and the Arkansas Supreme Court. The body will meet again on Sept. 23 to vote on the final report.
“It’s my vision that this report will encompass a lot of ideas,” State Rep. Carol Dalby, R-Texarkana, said during her opening remarks. “It’s not going to have specific legislation in it, but I think the more things that we can get into the report, the better we’ll be. We’ll have a better road map as to what we want to do in the future with our district courts and our court system.”
Numerous stakeholders have been encouraged during the study to provide input on the court system’s financial issues, including the state supreme Court, district court and circuit judges, the Administrative Office of the Courts, mayors, county judges, the Arkansas Municipal League and the Association of Arkansas Counties.
In 2017, municipal courts were restructured into state district courts. While the state took over much of the cost of district judges’ salaries, Dalby said that a roughly $4 million shortfall remained for cities and counties to make up. The committee voted to include in its final report a recommendation that the state pay the judges’ salaries, thereby eliminating county or city contributions.
A July 24 letter from the Arkansas District Judges Council to the committee included the suggestion that “cities and counties could be relieved of the portion they pay for the district judges’ salaries. If district judges are State employees (Constitutional Officers) why are the local governments required to pay a portion of those salaries?”
State Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, expressed hesitation about the suggestion. Local responsiveness and efficiency decreases as state-level funding increases, he said.
“There’s always been a dilemma there on how we do it,” Clark said. “But there’s good and bad things there for both.”
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