GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1914

Short Title:  Improve Judicial Branch Salaries.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representatives Watkins; Blue, Cooper, Hackney, R. Hunter, Michaux, Nesbitt, S. Thompson, Wicker, Miller, and Bowman.
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Referred to:  Public Employees.
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May 10, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO IMPROVE JUDICIAL BRANCH SALARIES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
––-JUDICIAL BRANCH OFFICIALS SALARY INCREASE
Section 1.  The annual salaries, payable monthly, for specified judicial branch officials for the 1989-90 and 1990-91 fiscal years are:
Judicial Branch Officials	Annual Salary
Chief Justice, Supreme Court	$92,496
Associate Justice, Supreme Court	90,000
Chief Judge, Court of Appeals	87,504
Judge, Court of Appeals	84,996
Judge, Senior Regular Resident Superior Court	82,500
Judge, Superior Court	80,004
Chief Judge, District Court	72,504
Judge, District Court	70,000
District Attorney	75,000
Assistant District Attorney - an average of	42,727
Administrative Officer of the Courts	82,500
Assistant Administrative Officer of the Courts	72,504
Public Defender	75,000
Assistant Public Defender - an average of	42,727
If an acting senior resident superior court judge is appointed under the provisions of G.S. 7A-41.1(e), he shall receive the salary for Judge, Senior Regular Resident, Superior Court, until his temporary appointment is vacated, and the judge he replaces shall receive the salary indicated for Judge, Superior Court.
The district attorney or public defender of a judicial district, with the approval of the Administrative Office of the Courts, shall set the salaries of assistant district attorneys or assistant public defenders, respectively, in that district such that the average salaries of assistant district attorneys or assistant public defenders in that district do not exceed $42,727 and the minimum salary of any assistant district attorney or assistant public defender is at least $21,574.
––-CLERKS OF COURT/SALARY INCREASE
Sec. 2.  G.S. 7A-101(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)The clerk of superior court is a full-time employee of the State and shall receive an annual salary, payable in equal monthly installments, based on the population of the county, as determined by the population projections of the Office of State Budget and Management for the year preceding the first year of each biennial budget, according to the following schedule:
Population        	Annual Salary
Less than 30,000	$ 40,632
30,000 to 99,999	46,752
100,000 to 199,999	52,848
200,000 and above	60,288

When a county changes from one population group to another, the salary of the clerk shall be changed to the salary appropriate for the new population group on July 1 of the first year of each biennial budget, except that the salary of an incumbent clerk shall not be decreased by any change in population group during his continuance in office."
––-ASSISTANT AND DEPUTY CLERKS OF COURT/SALARY INCREASE
Sec. 3.  G.S. 7A-102(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the Administrative Officer of the Courts shall establish an incremental salary plan for assistant clerks and for deputy clerks based on a series of salary steps corresponding to the steps contained in the Salary Plan for State Employees adopted by the Office of State Personnel, subject to a minimum and a maximum annual salary as set forth below. On and after July 1, 1985, each assistant clerk and each deputy clerk shall be eligible for an annual step increase in his salary plan based on satisfactory job performance as determined by each clerk. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if an assistant or deputy clerk's years of service in the office of superior court clerk would warrant an annual salary greater than the salary first established under this section, that assistant or deputy clerk shall be eligible on and after July 1, 1984, for an annual step increase in his salary plan. Furthermore, on and after July 1, 1985, that assistant or deputy clerk shall be eligible for an increase of two steps in his salary plan, and shall remain eligible for a two-step increase each year as recommended by each clerk until that assistant or deputy clerk's annual salary corresponds to his number of years of service. A full-time assistant clerk or a full-time deputy clerk shall be paid an annual salary subject to the following minimum and maximum rates:
Assistant Clerks	Annual Salary
Minimum	$ 19,525
Maximum	 32,767

Deputy Clerks	Annual Salary
Minimum	$ 15,302
Maximum	 25,122"
––-MAGISTRATES/SALARY INCREASE
Sec. 4.  G.S. 7A-171.1(a)(1) reads as rewritten:
"(1)	A full-time magistrate, so designated by the Administrative Officer of the Courts, shall be paid the annual salary indicated in the table below according to the number of years he has served as a magistrate. The salary steps shall take effect on the anniversary of the date the magistrate was originally appointed:
Table of Salaries of Full-Time Magistrates
Number of Prior Years of Service	Annual Salary
Less than 1	$ 17,628
1 or more but less than 3	 18,348
3 or more but less than 5	 19,944
5 or more but less than 7	 21,732
7 or more but less than 9	 23,472
9 or more but less than 11	 25,836
11 or more	 28,248

A ‘Full-time magistrate' is a magistrate who is assigned to work an average of not less than 40 hours a week during his term of office.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, a full-time magistrate, who was serving as a magistrate on December 31, 1978, and who was receiving an annual salary in excess of that which would ordinarily be allowed under the provisions of this subdivision, shall not have the salary, which he was receiving reduced during any subsequent term as a full-time magistrate. That magistrate's salary shall be fixed at the salary level from the table above which is nearest and higher than the latest annual salary he was receiving on December 31, 1978, and, thereafter, shall advance in accordance with the schedule in the table above."
Sec. 5.  This act shall become effective July 1, 1989.