GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

S	2 

SENATE BILL 754
Second Edition Engrossed 5/4/89

Short Title:  Magistrates' Education Incentive.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senator Ezzell.
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Referred to:  Judiciary II.
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April 4, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL INCENTIVES TO MAGISTRATES WHILE IN SERVICE AND TO EQUALIZE THE PRIOR SERVICE RECOGNITION FOR MAGISTRATES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 7A-171.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7A-171.1.  Duty hours, salary, and travel expenses within county.
	(a)	The Administrative Officer of the Courts, after consultation with the chief district judge and pursuant to the following provisions, shall set an annual salary for each magistrate.
(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	$14,712
1 or more but less than 3	 15,480
3 or more but less than 5	 17,052
5 or more but less than 7	 18,792
7 or more but less than 9	 20,724
9 or more but less than 11	 22,824
11 or more	 25,116
		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.
(2)	A part-time magistrate, so designated by the Administrative Officer of the Courts, is included, in accordance with G.S. 7A-170, under the provisions of G.S. 135-1(10) and 135-40.2(a) and shall receive an annual salary based on the following formula: The average number of hours a week that a part-time magistrate is assigned work during his term shall be multiplied by the annual salary payable to a full-time magistrate who has the same number of years of service prior to the beginning of that term as does the part-time magistrate and the product of that multiplication shall be divided by the number 40.  The quotient shall be the annual salary payable to that part-time magistrate.
		A ‘part-time magistrate' is a magistrate who is assigned to work an average of less than 40 hours of work a week during his term.  No magistrate may be assigned an average of less than 10 hours of work a week during his term.
		Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, upon reappointment as a magistrate and being assigned to work the same or greater number of hours as he worked as a magistrate for a term of office ending on December 31, 1978, a person who received an annual salary in excess of that to which he would be entitled under the formula contained in this subdivision shall receive an annual salary equal to that received during the prior term.  That magistrate's salary shall increase in accordance with the salary formula contained in this subdivision.
(3)	Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a magistrate with a two-year Associate in Applied Science degree in criminal justice or paralegal training from a North Carolina community college or the equivalent degree from a private educational institution in North Carolina, shall receive the annual salary provided in the table above for a magistrate with three years of service in addition to those which the magistrate has served; a magistrate with a four-year degree from an accredited senior institution of higher education shall receive the annual salary provided in the table above for a magistrate with five years of service in addition to those which the magistrate has served; a magistrate who holds a law degree from an accredited law school shall receive the annual salary provided in the table above for a magistrate with seven years of service in addition to those which the magistrate has served; and a magistrate who is licensed to practice law in North Carolina shall receive the annual salary provided in the table above for a magistrate with nine years of service in addition to those which the magistrate has served. 
		Magistrates with a two or four-year degree or a law degree described herein who became magistrates before July 1, 1979, are entitled to an increase of three, five and seven years, respectively, in their seniority, for pay purposes only.  Full-time magistrates licensed to practice law in North Carolina who became magistrates before July 1, 1979, are entitled to the pay of a magistrate with nine or more years of service, and part-time magistrates holding a law degree or a license to practice law as described above who became magistrates before July 1, 1979, are entitled to a proportionate adjustment in their pay.  Pay increases authorized by this paragraph of this subdivision are not retroactive.
(4)	Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a magistrate with 10 years' experience within the last 12 years as a sheriff or deputy sheriff, administrative officer for a district attorney, city or county police officer, or highway patrolman in the State of North Carolina, or with 10 years' experience within the last 12 years as clerk of superior court or an assistant or deputy clerk of court in the State of North Carolina shall receive the annual salary provided in the table in subdivision (1) for a magistrate with five years of service in addition to those which the magistrate has served.  A magistrate who qualifies for increased salary under both subdivisions (3) and (4) of this subsection shall receive either the salary determined under subdivision (3) or that determined under subdivision (4), whichever is higher, but no more. 
(5)	The Administrative Officer of the Courts shall provide magistrates with longevity pay at the same rates as are provided by the State to its employees subject to the State Personnel Act.
(b)	Notwithstanding G.S. 138-6, a magistrate may not be reimbursed by the State for travel expenses incurred on official business within the county in which the magistrate resides.”
Sec. 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Judicial Department the sum of twenty-four thousand three hundred fifty-three dollars ($24,353) for the 1989-90 fiscal year and the sum of twenty-four thousand three hundred fifty-three dollars ($24,353) for the 1990-91 fiscal year to implement this act.
Sec. 3.  This act shall become effective January 1, 1990, and applies to salaries earned on and after that date by magistrates serving on and after that date in a full-time or part-time position or who are appointed or reappointed to a full-time or part-time position on and after that date.