Senior judges ‘a bang for our buck’

Retired judges and Supreme Court justices who fill in for vacationing, sick and suspended judges earn tens of thousands of dollars each year but on average work fewer hours than sitting judges, state records show.

In Clark County, 11 former judges and justices, known as "senior judges," collectively made $595,818 in fiscal year 2006 and $682,706 in 2007. In fiscal year 2008 through March, senior judges made $574,560.

In one instance, Senior Judge J. Charles Thompson made $129,995 in fiscal year 2007 for working 1,377 hours, the equivalent of about 34 weeks.

Sitting District Court judges make $130,000 annually and generally work 45 to 55 hours per week, court officials said.

They said the program saves money and frees elected judges to work regular caseloads in an overburdened court system. Also, they said they can draw on the senior judges' experience.

"We're really getting a bang for our buck," Nevada Supreme Court Justice Michael Cherry said. The Supreme Court oversees senior judges.

He said the county saves money by using senior judges because it does not need to hire bailiffs and judicial assistants or build new courtrooms, which it does when new judges are hired.

Any district judge or Supreme Court justice who retires in good standing can become a senior judge. The Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission reviews their records, and the administrative office of the court annually reviews the judges' work, Cherry said.

In May, the Supreme Court lowered the hourly salary of former justices who serve as senior judges from $100 an hour to $86 an hour; it lowered the hourly salary for former district judges from $94 to $79, Cherry said.

The Supreme Court lowered the wage because of the state's budget woes, he said, and not because of any criticism of the program.

Using a typical 40-hour work week, some senior judges make a slightly higher hourly salary than sitting judges. But Cherry said the senior judges do not get sick or vacation leave and generally do not work full time.

In fiscal year 2007, Senior Judge James Brennan earned $90,220 for working 955 hours, the equivalent of less than half a year; Senior Judge Stephen Huffaker made $90,109 for working about the same amount of hours; Senior Judge Terrance Marren brought in $104,520 after working 1,206 hours in 2007, records show.

But Cherry and other officials said the salaries are justified because senior judges work in courtrooms across the state, resolve stalled cases and help in the understaffed court system.

"The bottom line is we don't have enough horses to cover what needs to be covered. It's a small amount of money compared to asking for more judges," he said.

In District Court, senior judges have been filling in for District Judge Elizabeth Halverson, who was suspended from the bench in July and continues to draw her $130,000 annual salary.

They sit in on "specialty court" programs such as drug and mental health courts, District Court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said.

Without the senior judges, sitting judges would be pulled off their regular court schedule to work in the specialty courts, he said.

"For us, it's a very effective use of money," he said.

The senior judge program started in 1977 on a $300,000 budget but expanded as the state grew. In 2005, the Legislature increased the budget to $1.5 million.

The program is set for renewal before the Legislature in 2009, and some lawmakers have raised questions.

Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, said her constituents raised concerns about the program because the senior judges are not elected. That, she said, is a big concern she will bring up during the next legislative session.

"I think we need to revisit it," she said.

But Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, who also sits on the committee, said he was an early supporter of the senior judge program and will back it for renewal.

"The workload is big, and senior judges bring a lot of experience to the job," he said.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@eviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. The Associated Press contributed to this report.