Council reappoints municipal judges, raises their salaries

The Norman Transcript

May 31, 2008 12:22 am

— Transcript Staff Writer
Norman's three municipal judges were given a pay raise and reappointed this week by city councilmembers.
Presiding Judge David Poarch, Associate Judge Gail Blaylock and Acting Judge Christi Chesley were reappointed to their posts for a term starting July 1 and ending June 30, 2010, at Tuesday's regular meeting.
Municipal judges work on a part-time basis. Salaries for the judges are fixed by city ordinance.
Salaries were increased for the presiding judge from $25,000 to $32,000; associate judge, $16,500 to $25,000; and acting judge, from $100 to $150 per session when presiding. The raises are effective July 1.
Recommendations for the salary hikes came in a memo to councilmembers from City Attorney Jeff Bryant and Municipal Court Clerk Ronda Guerrero, after salaries were examined by a judicial appointment subcommittee comparing surrounding or comparable municipalities.
Information was collected from the cities of Edmond, Ponca City, Enid, Moore, Broken Arrow, Stillwater, Del City, Lawton and Midwest City.
Average annual salary for a presiding judge in the comparable municipal courts was $32,039, excluding the City of Lawton.
The memo noted Lawton has one presiding judge who is paid $91,000 plus benefits.
For associate judges, salaries varied from $23,400 for the City of Edmond to $32,500 for the City of Enid.
Hourly rates for acting judges ranged from $44 to $300 per hour.
The subcommittee noted that the City of Norman's annual caseload exceeds the caseloads of all of the comparable cities, exceeding the nearest comparable city by 20 percent.
The council action also included training for continued professional development of the judges.
The items were approved on the city council's consent agenda.
Carol Cole-Frowe 366-3538 ccole@normantranscript.com