Ten candidates for two judicial commissioner positions made their pitches Wednesday to Hamilton County commissioners.
Four judicial commissioners, or magistrates, work at the Hamilton County Jail setting bonds and signing search warrants. The county commission set up the program in the early 1990s in hopes of easing jail overcrowding. Magistrates are appointed to one-year terms, with two magistrates being named in the spring and two in the fall.
The candidates interviewed Wednesday are applying for the spring appointments. Commissioners will vote from the list at their next Wednesday meeting.
Until earlier this year, magistrates earned around $65,000, with a $5,000 bump for the chief magistrate. But after a state ruling last year that magistrates could not practice law on the side, county commissioners voted to boost the pay over four years to match the $92,000 salary of other judges.
As commissioners hoped, that sparked a flood of new interest in the positions. The body last week discussed a proposal to hire only one chief magistrate and fill in with part-timers. The commission’s Security and Corrections Committee decided against the idea after current magistrates, judges and District Attorney Neal Pinkston objected.