By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John D. Minton, Jr., issued an impassioned plea for lawmakers to fund pay raises for all judicial branch employees so that their pay is comparable to those in the Executive and Legislative branches of state government.
Minton made what could well be his final appearance before the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee, as he is not seeking re-election this fall, and emphasized to the members that his request is not for him, but for those who will continue to work in the court system.
Chief Justice John Minton is asking for a $10,000 across-the-board pay raise for the Judicial Branch workers. (KET screen capture via Kentucky Today)
“The main focus of our Judicial Branch budget request is a Salary Parity Plan that, while simple, would be highly effective in creating a more equitable salary scale,” he testified. “We want to provide a flat $10,000 salary increase for full-time positions and $5,000 for parttime positions. The parity plan would apply to all non-elected employees and all elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks.”
He noted that the 5-6% raises included in the House and the Governor’s budget bills would only mean a $1,500 pay hike.
“In addition, our employees are paid around $7,500 less per year than employees in the other branches, and a 5% or 6% increase for all three branches will just push that bar even higher. Unless we significantly bump up our entire salary scale, we’ll always be chasing the higher salaries being offered by the Executive and Legislative branches.”
Minton told the panel, “We’re struggling to retain qualified candidates for non-elected positions because of low pay, and our turnover rate is alarming. We’re seeing turnover at about 40% annually for urban areas and critical front-line positions, such as pretrial services specialists. We’ve lost over one-third of our workforce, about 1,000 employees, in the last four years. That means one-third of our employees have less than four years of experience with the court system.”
The Chief Justice also noted the low pay keeps them from being able to fill vacancies. “For several of these positions, we’ve had no applicants and some who do apply don’t show up for the interview or refuse the offer. Sometimes the applicant accepts the position but resigns shortly after starting employment.”
He estimated the statewide pay raise would cost about $40 million.
Minton also told lawmakers he is seeking funding for several capital projects, including in Mayfield, where the Graves County Courthouse was destroyed by the December tornado. That includes:
• $3,000,000 to renovate private sector lease space to serve as a temporary courthouse.
• $969,000 to restore and digitize court records damaged in the storm.
• $18,445,000 to construct a new judicial center, which he said would take about four years to build.
Other capital projects include:
• Leslie County: $15,640,000 to construct a new judicial center.
• Hardin County: $3,000,000 for a capital repair project.
• Jefferson County: $1,189,100 for a capital repair project.
While the House has approved its version of a state budget for the Executive Branch, no action has been taken on the Judicial and Legislative Branch budgets.
So wish someone would seek a decent paycheck for all the waiters and waitresses working across Kentucky so they would makeca decent paycheck to live on and not having to depend on a lousy tip or none at all. All State personal need to see their own young adult children trying to live on a shameful paycheck these young and old adults are trying to live on. It’s making it easier for them to just quit and let Washington support them with a check in the mail.