Judges only state employees to get raises

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma's 267 judges got a five percent annual pay hike this year, while other state employees failed to get any salary increase.

When the fiscal year began July 1, the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals began earning $147,000, compared with $140,000 last fiscal year.

The 84 special judges in the state court system saw their salaries go from $100,050 to $105,053.

The Judicial Compensation Board meets every other year and makes a recommendation on pay for judges. The raises go into effect unless the Legislature or governor strike them.

Rep. Ken Miller of Edmond, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, says the five Republican members of the nine-member House General Conference Committee on Appropriations wanted to delay the raises.

However, their counterparts in the Senate didn't consider that proposal.