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Most state judges agree to voluntary pay cut
2 Forsyth judges among 4 who'll forfeit requested portion in different way
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Published: May 13, 2009
Most of North Carolina's judges have agreed to a voluntary pay cut equal to the unpaid furloughs imposed on other state employees by Gov. Bev Perdue.
Of the state's 396 trial and appeals judges, 368 have agreed to a voluntary 0.5 percent salary cut, according to the most recent numbers from the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.
Four other judges, including Judson D. Deramus Jr. and William Z. Wood Jr. of Forsyth Superior Court, have said they will give back 0.5 percent of their salary, but not by using a payroll deduction.
The state constitution protects judges against a reduction of their pay during their service on a court. Other court employees such as clerks, legal assistants and district attorneys are not protected, and their salaries have been reduced.
Two weeks ago, Chief Justice Sarah Parker of the N.C. Supreme Court sent elected judges a memo asking them to agree to the salary reduction at the governor's request.
"Knowing your strong commitment to the people of North Carolina, I am confident that you will join with me in fulfilling this duty to the public," Parker wrote.
All seven of the state Supreme Court justices and all 15 judges of the N.C. Court of Appeals have signed up for the voluntary cuts, according to a list provided by the courts office. All of the elected Superior Court judges in Northwest North Carolina, as well as Guilford County's five judges, have agreed to let the state cut their salaries, except for Deramus and Wood, who chose to give back their salaries in a different way.
That's partly because of a concern that the state legislature hasn't decided yet how a pay cut affects retirement benefits, Wood and Deramus both said.
Wood said he also had concerns about temporarily waiving the constitutional protection against reducing a judge's salary.
That protection is there to prevent judges from being pressured financially if they rule in a way that displeases other branches of government, Wood said.
"I felt like I had I guess you'd say a moral obligation to my fellow employees," Wood said, "but at the same time I'm not going to compromise the independence of the judiciary."
Deramus said he plans to make most of his contribution to a fund at the School of Government at UNC Chapel Hill for educating employees of the court system.
The average salary for a Superior Court judge in Forsyth County is $138,313. The average District Court judge in the county is paid $116,372.
Those averages don't include Deramus, the chief resident judge of Superior Court, or William B. Reingold, the chief District Court judge. Deramus makes $158,667, and Reingold makes $134,632.
Any cuts are expected to come from base pay, which is $109,372 for District Court judges and $124,382 for Superior Court judges. Being a chief resident judge on either court leads to about $3,000 more in base pay.
"Special pay," a category that includes longevity pay and pay increases rewarding legal experience, can increase the salary up to 24 percent over the base pay. Special pay is not expected to be affected by the voluntary pay cuts, but that depends on the General Assembly.
If all 14 judges in Forsyth County agree to the voluntary cuts, the state would save about $8,000.
So far, all District Court judges in Forsyth have signed up for the cuts except for Judge Laurie Hutchins, who said Friday that she was still deciding. Hutchins could not be reached yesterday.
She said Friday that she was sympathetic to fellow state workers taking a cut and that one of her concerns was simply giving the money back to general state use. "I would rather donate to a charity of my choice," she said.
Another concern, Hutchins said, was that for years judges have been raising the issue of their pay, saying that it is low compared with other states and to the salaries that judges could earn in the private sector. Agreeing to a pay cut could hurt that argument down the road, she said.
"I think it sends a bad message to the legislature that our salaries don't need to be raised," she said.
■ Dan Galindo can be reached at 727-7377 or at dgalindo@wsjournal.com.
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