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Senate OKs bill to reduce salaries judges, justices
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Posted on Apr 13 2008
The Senate has approved a bill cutting the salaries of the Commonwealth’s justices and judges by 10 percent across the board.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Maria Pangelinan, states that the tax base cannot continue to support the Judiciary’s large payroll. The CNMI’s justices and judges receive salaries at, or in some cases above, the national average, based on statistics from the National Center for State Courts.
The chief justice of the Supreme Court will have his salary cut from $130,000 to $117,000. The salary of each full-time associate justice of the Supreme Court will be reduced from $126,000 to $113,400.
The bill would lower the salary of the presiding judge of the Superior Court from $123,000 to $110,700. The salary of each associate judge of the Superior Court will decrease from $120,000 to $108,000.
The bill will become law once approved by the House of Representatives and signed by the governor.
The reduction will apply to any justice’s or judge’s term that begins after the bill’s enactment. The reduction will also apply even if the justice or judge has won retention in an election, but the term for which he or she has been retained does not begin until the bill’s enactment.
