Cobb Superior Court judges will be getting the same four-percent merit pay increase as county employees in the new fiscal year 2020 budget that began on Monday.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve the raises, despite objections from two commissioners.
Each of the 10 Superior Court judges, the chief judge and new Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes will receive the raises, which will increase their county salary supplement by $8,323 a year.
Superior Court judges and the DA serve in elected positions and are state constitutional officers, with most of their salaries paid by the state.
A portion of their compensation comes from county supplements, and funding for the raises is provided in the FY 2020 budget.
Commissioners Bob Ott of East Cobb and Keli Gambrill voted against the measure, which passed 3-2 and goes into effect immediately.
The state portion of the four-percent increase is $62,254 per individual, and the request is based on judges’ full salaries.
Ott said he supports pay raises for the county portion of the judges’ salaries, but not on their full salary.
“To me, that’s a state function,” Ott said.
East Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said she supported the raises, since the county previously has boosted local compensation for the Cobb sheriff, also an elected state constitutional officer, to match other Cobb law enforcement increases.
The state last raised Superior Court and other state judicial salaries in 2015. When HB 279 was enacted, median Superior Court salaries went from around $186,000 a year (with $120,000 being paid by the state) to nearly $200,000 annually.
Superior Court judges handle major felony cases, including violent crimes, drug-trafficking and serious white-collar offenses.
State Court judges preside over misdemeanor and small-claims cases, including DUI, traffic citations and minor civil disputes.
Their salaries are set by and fully paid for by county governments, and in Cobb, State Court judges have a median salary of around $171,000.
They were included in the four-percent merit increase that went to qualified county employees.
Cobb Superior Court Administrator Tom Charron, who made the request at Tuesday’s commissioners meeting, said that judges “in courts of lesser jurisdiction” could conceivably earn more than their Superior Court counterparts without the merit raises.
He said Superior Court judges did not get salary increases that came with other state employee raises this year.
In 2014 the Georgia legislature passed a law that allowed Cobb Superior Court judges to get raises at the local level without having to go to state lawmakers every year.
Ott said the issue is no different than with what the county faces with Georgia DOT over funding obligations for maintenance and repair.
He cited as an example Roswell Road, also known as Georgia Highway 120. “They will come and cut the median once every 60 days, but they don’t care what it looks like in between,” Ott said. “Their answer to us is, ‘If you want it to look better, you’re going to have to cut it.’ That’s not our job.
“Yes, Superior Court judges should get a raise, but it should be the state should taking the responsibility for a state constitutional officer. They’re passing down to the citizens of Cobb to have to cover the cost because they’re not willing to give the raise.
“The more the county takes on state responsibilities, the less [the state] is going to be responsible for. . . At some point in time it’s got to stop.”
Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said judges shouldn’t caught in the crossfire of haggling over how their salary increases will be paid for. He did say he will take the issue to the Cobb legislative delegation before next year’s session.
“Cobb is a family and judges are part of the family,” Boyce said. “They carry a significant load. We have the resources to do this and we shouldn’t hold the judges back.”
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