Maryland judges won’t ask for pay increase 

Posted: 4:06 pm Fri, February 5, 2010
By Steve Lash
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer

For the second straight year, the Maryland Judiciary will not ask for a judicial pay increase, recognizing that the bleak economy has forced court personnel to take unpaid leave and caused cuts to judges’ vacation days. 

 “We really can’t ask for one [pay raise] given the situation,” said Court of Appeals Judge Clayton Greene Jr., who chairs the judiciary’s Judicial Compensation Committee. “We try to be people of reason.”

 The judiciary’s continued willingness to keep judges’ salaries frozen comes despite the state Judicial Compensation Commission’s recommendation of a $9,111 raise for each of Maryland’s active jurists next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
 
 That amount would represent a 6 percent increase to the average judicial salary and is part of a four-year package of similar increases each year through fiscal 2014.
 
 But the commission’s recommendation was formulated in fall 2008, shortly before financial analysts calculated that Maryland faced a potential $2 billion shortfall and before Gov. Martin O’Malley’s decision to furlough state workers to save money. The judiciary followed suit by requiring its employees to take up to five days of unpaid leave and has called on judges to cut their number of annual vacation days by 10.
 
 The commission’s proposed judicial raise would cost the state about $4 million next fiscal year, according to the Department of Legislative Services, the legislature’s research arm.
 
 Under the current salary structure, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell is paid $181,352 annually, while his colleagues earn $162,352. Court of Special Appeals Chief Judge Peter B. Krauser is paid $152,552, while other members of that court earn $149,552.
 
 Circuit Court judges are paid $140,352. Maryland Chief District Court Judge Ben C. Clyburn earns $149,552, while other district court judges are paid $127,252.