Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor today praised State Rep. Gerald L. Stebelton, the Ohio Council of County Officials, and the Ohio Judicial Conference for their work to introduce a bill calling for pay raises for state and local elected officials, including judges.

Under House Bill 661, Ohio’s county officials and judges will receive a market adjustment spread out over several years that will align their pay with changes in the job market since the last adjustment in 2008. In addition, the legislation provides for an annual Cost of Living Adjustment based on the federal Consumer Price Index for all elected officials to ensure that compensation remains competitive in the future.

Elected officials’ pay has remained unchanged since 2008, when the last year of a previous compensation bill expired.

Chief Justice O’Connor said she fully supports the legislation.

“I’ve talked about the need to address this issue in order to attract and retain good judges,” she said. “State Rep. Stebelton and Ohio Judicial Conference Executive Director Mark R. Schweikert deserve great credit for working closely with legislative leadership and county officials on this legislation to ensure everyone was at the table and that the bill had widespread support.”

In the most recent “Survey of Judicial Salaries” by the National Center of State Courts, Ohio’s judicial pay ranks in the bottom half for each category.

Published for nearly 30 years, the survey serves as the primary record of compensation for state judicial officers and state court administrators. The survey uses figures for courts of last resort, intermediate appellate courts and general jurisdiction trial courts.

The chief justice and justices on the Ohio Supreme Court make $150,850 and $141,600 annually. Courts of appeals judges are paid $132,000 per year. Common pleas judges earn $121,350 each year. As for full-time municipal court judges, their salaries are $114,100 while part-time municipal court judges and county court judges have annual salaries of $65,650.

Ohio judicial pay ranks 37th for highest court, 32nd for intermediate appellate courts, and 43rd for general jurisdiction trial courts. According to the U.S. Census, Ohio ranked fifth in the nation in total revenue in 2010.