Idaho Bills

Amends existing law to provide that certain judges and magistrate judges shall be eligible to receive a bonus upon retirement and to revise a provision regarding the salary of the justices of the Supreme Court.

This legislation provides for an increase in judicial salaries by increasing the salary of supreme court justices from $165,212 to $169,508, which is an increase of $4,296, or 2.6%. Since the salary of court of appeals judges in set at $8,000 less than supreme court justices, district court judges are set at $6,000 below court of appeals judges, and magistrate judges are set at $8,000 less than district court judges, meaning each type of judge will receive a $4,296 increase. The percentage increase will be slightly higher for each of the types of judges, up to a 3.0% increase for magistrate judges. This legislation also provides a retirement bonus incentive for judges and justices who serve through the end of their term before retiring, if they do so in such a way as to allow their positions to be filled by election, rather than appointment. Magistrate judges are also included, although their positions are always filled by appointment. This one-time bonus would be $25,000.