Supreme Court chief quietly gave pay raise to himself and other judges without legislative approval
Supreme Court Justice Michael Randolph used a little-known provision in a 2012 law to quietly — and without legislative approval — award pay raises to himself and all of the state’s judges earlier this year.
Randolph wrote a letter last December informing state Personnel Board Executive Director Kelly Hardwick that he was authorizing a $15,000 pay raise for himself to bring his salary to $174,000 annually and award similar salary increases for other members of the state’s judiciary. That included salary adjustments for the state’s nine Supreme Court justices, 10 Court of Appeals judges, 57 circuit judges and 52 chancellors. The pay raises were based on a Personnel Board recommendation of adequate salaries for judges.
“As chief justice, in my capacity as chief administrative officer of all courts in the state, the salaries for judges and justices shall be as follows,” he wrote before outlining the pay raises that went into effect on Jan. 1.
While most every other elected official in Mississippi has their salaries set by the Legislature — traditionally the only governmental body with the power to appropriate money — a provision in a 2012 law gives the Supreme Court chief justice the power to raise salaries of the judiciary without legislative approval.
Read more: https://mississippitoday.org/2021/06/09/mississippi-supreme-court-pay-raise/
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