The legislature is doing everything it can to help incentivize lawyers to run against sitting judges, state attorneys, and public defenders.
Currently, the budget is awaiting Rick Scott’s signature, which would grant 10% raises beginning October 1st, bumping state attorneys and public defenders to nearly $170,000 per annum, county judges to $152,000, and circuit judges to $161,000. The proposed 6% raise for assistant public defenders is dead, while what amounts to a modest cost of living increase would apply to lawyers handling daily caseloads on both sides of the aisle.
Judicial pay is already a windfall to a majority of lawyers that have the free time to successfully navigate the political pathways of the JNC or the campaign trail. Factor in the raise and 3.3% pension multiplier, and it’s like hitting the lotto for 99% of the public interest legal and general civilian populations.
Some very quick math:
For a single six-year judicial term – 3.3% x 6 = 19.8% of salary, or $31,878 pension payout per annum for life, starting at age 62, or after thirty years of state employment.
For two six-year terms – 3.3% x 12 = 39.6% of salary, or $63,756 per annum for life … etc. …
(and don’t forget to add in prior years of state employment, which can increase the payouts dramatically)
There you have it. Being a “public servant” has some very lucrative benefits, in addition to a great health plan, setting your own schedule, staff, parking, ample vacation time, and free meals galore.
Don’t you and your family deserve the financial security offered by a judgeship? Don’t you think majority registered Democrat Broward deserves something besides Republican appointed judges, year after year? Don’t you think, win or lose, that a vibrant democratic process makes for a better informed, sensitive, efficient, and more diverse bench overall?
Don’t you think 2018 is the time to run against a sitting judge, just like Judge Duffy and Judge McCarthy did in 2016?
GET RICH QUICK – RUN FOR JUDGE