Oregon judges propose pay raises

Published 5:54 am Sunday, February 12, 2017

Oregon judges, among the lowest paid for their positions in the nation, could see consistent pay raises over the next few years.

Two bills introduced this Legislative session — House Bill 2636 and Senate Bill 11 — propose to increase the salary of Oregon judges this year by about $10,000 to $12,000, and establish an annual pay raise of about $5,000 to $6,000 through Jan. 1, 2020.

Circuit judges, including the seven in Deschutes County, would see their salaries increase this year to $135,775, a pay raise of more than $10,000. Their salaries would then increase by about $5,600 in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Thomas Balmer — who requested the bills along with the Oregon Circuit Court Judges Association — would be the highest paid judge in the state, earning $150,571 this year.

Oregon Judicial Department spokesman Phil Lemman said one motivation behind the bills is to help retain and recruit judges to the bench, when they could earn more money in private practice. Judges are often the lowest paid lawyers in a courtroom.

“We want to retain the experienced judges we have now, and we want to make sure as judges leave we have highly qualified lawyers interested in replacing them,” Lemman said.

Supporters see the pay raises as an investment to sustain a strong judiciary system that impacts all citizens.

The Oregon Circuit Court Judges Association believes it is important to better compensate judges, in part, to recognize the value of what they do on and off the bench. The association notes that judges are on call 24 hours a day, face security concerns and are asked to participate in charitable activities outside of the courtroom.

As an example, it is not unusual for a circuit judge to be awakened at 3 a.m. to sign a police officer’s search warrant, go to 7:30 a.m. meetings in the courthouse, oversee court hearings all day, attend debriefings in the evening and not return home until after 9 p.m.

Judges must also have a wider range of experience and knowledge in the law than other lawyers, Lemman said.

“We need people with a broad variety of legal background on the state bench,” Lemman said. “These are people who make decisions that affect people’s lives in a very meaningful way everyday.”

According to the National Center for State Courts, the salaries of Oregon Circuit Court judges are ranked 38th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia. When adjusted for the cost of living, the salaries are ranked 48th, fourth from the bottom.

Washington Superior Court, which has the same function as Oregon’s Circuit Court, was ranked 12th in the nation with judges earning $165,870 per year. The Washington judges are ranked 18th when adjusted for cost of living.

Bill Raftery, a senior knowledge and information services analyst with the National Center for State Courts, said the national clearinghouse has compiled judicial salary data since the 1970s.

Raftery said the entire judicial system in the country has seen a 1.72 percent increase in 2016 salaries, but that is still below the pre-recession average annual increase of 3.24 percent.

“The Great Recession put a stop to a lot of the increases,” Raftery said. “We are starting to see it creep back up.”

A third bill this Legislative session — House Bill 2605 — is seeking to add nine judges across the state’s circuit court system, including a new judge in Deschutes County. The increase will give the state 182 circuit court judges.

The last time circuit judge positions were added was in 2005, when Clackamas, Clatsop, Jackson and Umatilla/Morrow counties each added a judge.

Alta Brady, Deschutes County Circuit Court presiding judge, said the need for a new judge is primarily connected to the sharp population growth in the county. A workload study found Deschutes County needs at least nine judges to adequately service the growing community.

“We are just not keeping up with the population,” Brady said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7820,

kspurr@bendbulletin.com