A state salary review panel is recommending that Utah judges get a 1.5 percent pay bump and that the governor and other elected leaders receive cost-of-living increases.
The report on state compensation found that, while the state’s judges typically earn above the national average, they’re still making far less than they might in private practice. This pay gap could be discouraging qualified attorneys from applying for open judgeships, the Elected Official and Judicial Compensation Commission reported.
“The applicant pool is primarily coming from a lot of public sectors and not much from private sectors,” David Clark, commission chair, told a group of state lawmakers Tuesday.