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SPONSOR: |
Snyder |
DATE TYPED: |
01/28/02 |
HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Chief Judges’ Salaries |
SB |
36 |
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ANALYST: |
Hayes |
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APPROPRIATION
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Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY02 |
FY03 |
FY02 |
FY03 |
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$32.4 |
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Recurring |
General Fund |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates
to HB63
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
Judiciary Branch Unified Budget document
LFC files
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
Senate Bill 36 amends
Section 34-1-9 NMSA 1978 regarding salaries of justices, judges and magistrates
and appropriates $32.4 from the general fund to the Administrative Office of
the Courts (AOC) the purpose of providing a minimal salary increase to those
judges who serve as chief judge at their respective district court or to the
chief judge at Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court. The presiding judge in magistrate courts with three or more
judges would also be entitled to such an increase. (Currently, this is applicable only to Dona Ana and Santa Fe
magistrate courts.)
The effective date of
this bill is July 1, 2002.
Significant
Issues
1. Currently, under Section 34-1-9, the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court and the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals
receive an additional salary stipend ($2,000 per year for the Chief Justice;
95% of $2,000 for the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals) because of the
additional responsibilities required of a chief justice or judge. Since chief judges and presiding judges are
also charged with additional administrative duties, the amending language would
provide for an additional annual compensation based on the formula outlined
above.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of
$32.4 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining
at the end of FY03 shall revert to the general fund.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
Chief judges perform
many duties and activities beyond their daily court caseload. For example:
· Serve
as the appointing or administrative authority on all personnel matter
· Be
responsible for court scheduling and assignment of dockets and duties to the
other judges in the court or district
· Be
responsible for all court budget, audit, and budget submissions
· May
serve on the Chief Judges Council or may serve on subcommittees and be required
to travel to Albuquerque, Santa Fe or other parts of the state to attend
meetings
· Attend
legislative hearings and committee meetings
· Over
all matters related to court facilities and security
· Coordinate
with local law enforcement, jails, district attorneys, and public and private defenders
to assure proper flow of cases through the court
Approval
of this bill will create parity among all levels of chief judges throughout the
state.
RELATIONSHIP
House Bill 63 appropriates $737,860 from the
general fund to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) for the purpose
of providing a 4.5 percent salary increase to justices, judges, magistrates,
special commissioners and hearing officers to make up for past instances, in
1997 and 1998, when they did not receive the same salary increase appropriated
for other state employees.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
1. When a justice or judge is no
longer the chief, are their salaries decreased accordingly ?
[1]Begin typing on the * in replace mode. Do not add or delete spaces.