County Mayor Jim Coppinger, left, and County Attorney Rheubin Taylor listen as Commissioner Greg Beck speaks on the removal of the Confederate Lt. Gen. A.P. Stewart bust in the County Commission assembly room at the Hamilton County Courthouse on Wednesday, Oct. 4, in Chattanooga, Tenn.A big pay increase proposed for Hamilton County's four magistrate judges sparked a lively discussion among county commissioners Wednesday.
The magistrates work at the county jail on nights and weekends, setting bonds and issuing warrants during hours when the elected General Sessions Court judges aren't available. The commission set the program up years ago to help ease jail overcrowding.
Their contracts say magistrates must be attorneys and that they may not practice criminal law during their one-year terms. They are - or were - allowed to practice civil law to supplement their $65,000-a-year magistrate pay.
But last year, the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts told the county that the full-time magistrates are considered to be judges and aren't allowed to have outside practices.
At their Wednesday agenda session, commissioners were presented a resolution from their Security and Corrections Committee calling for magistrate pay to be raised to $80,000 immediately, with $4,000 raises in each subsequent year until the pay reaches $92,000. The chief magistrate would get a 10 percent bonus. The magistrates also may participate in the county's health insurance and other benefit programs.
Commissioner Tim Boyd, chairman of the Security and Corrections Committee, said it's only fair for magistrates to be paid comparably with other judicial system members in the county. He noted there are five attorneys in the Hamilton County budget whose pay ranges between $83,000 and $123,000. Five clerks in the judicial system earn between $93,000 and $100,000, Boyd said, and a court referee earns $98,000. The total annual cost including benefits would be around $70,000, he said.
Boosting magistrates' pay to a similar level is "reasonable, competitive and justifiable," Boyd said, for a job that involves night, weekend and holiday hours and stressful working conditions dealing with people who have just been arrested.
"These are judges and they need to be seriously considered as judges," he said.
County Attorney Rheubin Taylor said a judge's salary can't be changed during his or her term, so the county is requiring magistrates to sign new contracts as they are reappointed.
And are they signing contracts? Commissioner Jim Fields asked. If they are, where's the problem?
"If people want to take the position we're offering, that's the market," Fields said.
Commissioner Joe Graham agreed, noting the magistrates have gotten regular raises along with other county government employees. He said county benefits are "second to none" and a "huge value" to magistrates, who are sole proprietors and must provide their own health insurance.
If the county wants to reform the program, Graham said, maybe it's time to rethink the whole thing. Perhaps hire one full-time magistrate and then contract with others who could work part time and maintain law practices, as well.
"We could open it up to many more attorneys," he said.
Commissioners questioned Human Resources Director Alecia Poe about how compensation is set for county workers, and Commissioner Sabrena Smedley asked Poe to take a look at magistrate pay elsewhere.
Commissioner Greg Beck, a court officer, said he intends to vote for the raise. He's seen how the magistrates work, sitting in a cramped cubicle, often facing angry and intoxicated arrestees who spit and curse at them.
He also asked what the magistrates' positions will be when the jail is consolidated at the Silverdale correctional facility. Sheriff Jim Hammond said that is probably five years off, so there's time to consider that question.
County Mayor Jim Coppinger said any decision on magistrates' pay is up to the commissioners since the program falls under their purview.
"They can do with it what they want, we just have to find a way to fund it," Coppinger said.
Contact staff writer Judy Walton at jwalton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6416.