By Shawn Ashley Chief Justice Colbert endorses judicial pay increase The chief justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court endorsed the 12 percent judicial pay increased approved by the Board of Judicial Compensation during Tuesday’s meeting of the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on the Judiciary. “I am asking the House and the Senate to serious consider the pay increase,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Colbert told subcommittee members. “I am not asking the House and Senate to pay for it. We can pay for it through efficiencies we’ve been able to implement the past two to three years.” The Supreme Court, which also oversees the administrative operation of the Court of Civil Appeals and the district courts, is not asking for any increase in funding for fiscal year 2015, Colbert told subcommittee members. The board made its recommendation in September in a report sent to Gov. Mary Fallin and legislative leaders. Under the recommendation, the Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justices salary would increase from $147,000 to $164,400. Salaries for special district court judges, the lowest paid judges, would increase from $105,053 to $117,659, under the recommendations that were adopted unanimously by the board Sept. 26.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 22:13:29 +0000