Idaho Bills

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the retirement of judges and to provide that a judicial vacancy shall remain vacant until the next judicial election in certain instances.

This legislation retains the Plan B early retirement incentive for supreme court justices, judges of the court of appeals and district judges who are serving as of April 1, 2024. After that date, any new positions will be ineligible for the Plan B option. In addition, this legislation acknowledges that selection for senior judge status is wholly within the discretion of the supreme court. If the Court approves senior judge status under the Plan B option for any supreme court justice, judge of the court of appeals, or district judge, who is retiring before the end of their elected term, that vacancy shall be filled by a senior judge until a new judge or justice can be elected. If no candidate is elected in the next judicial election, the position may then be filled through the judicial council selection process. This legislation has no impact on retirement status for judges or justices who are not applying for Plan B status. This legislation does not impact magistrate judges since they are not eligible for Plan B status.

Amends existing law to provide that a judicial vacancy shall remain vacant until the next judicial election in certain instances and to revise a provision regarding the salary of the justices of the Supreme Court.

JFAC approved a Statewide Decision for CEC for FY 2025 of a 1% across-the-board increase, plus an additional 2% merit-based raise, for permanent employees of the state. Judicial Salaries must be separately established by the Legislature and are set forth in section 59-502, Idaho Code, which also indexes such salaries to a Supreme Court Justice’s salary to avoid salary compression between the four types of judgeships. To accomplish the intent of both the budget process as well as the salary statute, a 3% increase to the current Magistrate Judge salary is first calculated. This calculation results in a $4,296 salary increase, which is then added to the Supreme Court Justice salary so as to maintain the salary differentials currently existing in section 59-502, Idaho Code. This results in a $4,296 salary increase per judicial officer. This bill sets the annual salary of a justice of the Supreme Court at $169,508, which is a 2.6% increase of their current salary. As set forth in Idaho Code, the difference between the salary of a Supreme Court Justice and a Court of Appeals Judge remains at $8,000 (resulting in a 2.7% salary increase for Court of Appeals Judges); the difference between the salary of a Court of Appeals Judge and a District Judge remains at $6,000 (resulting in a 2.8% salary increase for District Judges); and the difference between the salary of a District Judge and a Magistrate Judge remains at $8,000 (resulting in a 3.0% salary increase for Magistrate Judges. If a judge elects to retire and does so at a time other than at the conclusion of his term of office, the judicial vacancy created shall remain vacant until a qualified candidate is successfully elected during the next available judicial election.