Iowa legislators are making final decisions on next year’s state spending plan, but disagreements remain as the Iowa General Assembly aims to adjourn for the year soon.
Senate Republicans have proposed a 2% salary hike for Iowa judges. House Republicans have proposed a 6.2% increase that’s in line with what the Iowa Supreme Court’s chief justice has recommended.
During a recent Senate subcommittee hearing, Caitlin Jarzen, director of governmental affairs for Iowa’s court system, said the pay for county attorneys has kept pace with inflation, but judges’ salaries have not. “We’re seeing a really a big problem with retention and recruitment,” Jarzen said. “…The Judicial Branch is being left behind while other salaries are increasing.”
Some county attorneys are making almost as much as a district court judge. “This is a big problem because a huge portion of our judicial applicant pool is county attorneys,” Jarzen said. “…We’re going to get to a point where the position of a judge is not attractive to a county attorney anymore and we’d like to have their expertise on the bench.”
The legal counsels working in some state government agencies are even paid more than the Chief Judge on the Iowa Court of Appeals.
“We even understand we’re not going to compete with private industry salaries,” Jarzen said. “An attorney in private practice is going to make more and that’s just an acepted part of reality that you take a salary cut with public service, but now the judges’ salaries are getting to the point that other public servants aren’t even wanting to apply to be on the bench because it’s a salary cut for them, too.”
Iowa judges are paid less than judges in every neighboring state. The 6.2% salary hike proposed by the chief justice still won’t raise those salaries above judges in surrounding states.