For his entire tenure as the region’s chief criminal prosecutor, Hamilton County District Attorney General Bill Cox has relied on one thing to lure lawyers into the world of public service: the promise of higher pay.
State law starts out criminal prosecutors with a salary of $42,900 a year, Mr. Cox tells young attorneys, and that’s less than half of what they could make if they went to work for private firms.
But commit to it for the long haul, he tells them, and they’ll be rewarded by way of “service credits,” which can translate into incrementally bigger paychecks each year. With credits, prosecutors generally are given a $2,600-a-year bump in pay for each year of service.
PDF: Caseload study BY THE NUMBERS* $42,900 — Starting pay for state prosecutor* $2,600 — Approximate yearly pay increase with service credits in effect* $112,000 — Prosecutor’s approximate salary after 25 years of service* 3 — Number of years legislature has denied service credits since 2003Source: Tennessee District Attorneys General ConferenceRECENT PAY HISTORYState employees, including those in government, higher education and some K-12 workers, have not received a pay raise in three years.
But as the economy has worsened and the legislature is preparing to remove service credits from the state budget for the third time in seven years, Mr. Cox said that, for the first time, he fears he will not be able to lure in talent, let alone convince attorneys to become career prosecutors.