Salaries of magistrates must be set by the first Monday in May in the year they are elected and remain the same during the next four-year term.
“Magisterial salaries cannot be changed UP or DOWN during their term in office,” said Andrew Hartley, staff attorney for the Kentucky Department for Local Government. He noted there is a cost-of-living provision that can be added, but the base salary must remain the same. The only way magistrates’ base salaries could be changed, either up or down, is for the current members of fiscal court to set salaries by May 3 for the next four-year term beginning in 2011. The salary-setting deadline is 15 days ahead of the May 18 primary election and gives voters an opportunity to assess salaries of members of the next fiscal court.
However, a magistrate can donate a portion of his salary back to the county,” Hartley said. The attorney’s comment was in reference to a local magisterial candidate’s promise to donate 25 percent of his salary back to the county.
“(If salaries can’t be lowered) I will give 25 percent (of my salary) back to the county to be used for industrial development and tourism,” Keith Floyd, a Republican candidate for magistrate in District 1, told the Commonwealth Journal. Each magistrate currently makes $30,000 a year plus an undocumented $3,600 annual expense account.
Hartley said he doubts if a magistrate can tag a donation of part of his salary for specific purposes. “He would be making the donation as a private citizen and it goes into the general fund,” the attorney added.
Floyd, best known as secretary-treasurer and board member of Somernites Cruise, also said he would serve two terms as magistrate and then not seek reelection.
A Democratic candidate for magistrate in District 1 also told the Commonwealth Journal he is opposed to current salaries of members of Pulaski Fiscal Court.
“It (magistrate) is a part-time job and should have part-time pay,” said Christopher M. “Chris” Phillips, an economics professor at Somerset Community College. “I will push for the salary to be cut in half to $15,000 (annually),” Phillips promised. Phillips could use his influence during his term, but any change in base salary would have to wait four years.
There are a total of 51 candidates for the five seats on fiscal court. The record number of candidates obviously was attracted to the fiscal court positions by the generous salary for a part-time job. Some current and previous members of fiscal court have held down full-time jobs in the private sector while serving as magistrate.
According to law, a magistrate by himself has no authority. His only authority is with the body of fiscal court; that is when fiscal court is in session. Pulaski Fiscal Court meets twice a month, usually for less than two hours each session.
Salaries for magistrates in Pulaski County have been controversial for years. Several years ago, members of fiscal court, pointing out that they had not had a raise in years, increased their salaries while in office. A citizens’ group took the issue to court; the raise was declared illegal and magistrates were required to repay the money.
The current magistrate’s salary was set prior to the beginning of the present term. Magistrates realigned districts, reducing the number from seven to five, and doubled their $15,000 a year salary. The higher salaries were put in place according to the time frame set by law and are perfectly legal. A magistrate, according to the state constitution, can earn as much as the county judge which is $83,235 annually.
Local News
Related Photos
Magistrates' salaries a hot topic in fiscal court race
Candidate wants to give 25 percent of pay back to county
- Local News
-
-
Eubank woman keeps the faith as she battles cervical cancer
- Congressional districts set
- Kentucky exempt from NCLB regulations
-
Survey may attract commercial passenger service
-
Hal Rogers defends Somerset’s Streetscape project
-
Somerset on verge of becoming natural gas hub
It sounds like a Buck Rogers fiction series, but it’s true. The city of Somerset is about to become the energy hub of Kentucky, maybe even regionally or nationally.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler, gas company manager Dan Henderson and city engineer Reggie Chaney discussed the grandiose energy network this week with a reporter for the Commonwealth Journal. It’s more than a vision. City officials say it’s about to become reality. -
Old districts are back ... for now
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the legislative redistricting debacle in Frankfort.
Judge Phillip Shepherd in Franklin Circuit Court on Tuesday tossed out the General Assembly’s controversial redistricting plans and reverted everything back to where it was before. -
Fast-moving blaze guts mobile home off Slate Branch Road
-
Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
The Health Department doesn’t operate the cannons unless there is a specific complaint in an area where there are lots of birds, Spillman noted. He said so far this year the birds are not as bad as in the past. -
Boil water advisory is lifted countywide
The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Raw Video: Israeli Embassy Car Attacked
Coroner: Don't Know Houston's Cause of Death Yet
Valentine Greetings Sent Worldwide From Loveland
Greek Austerity Measures Spark Riots
Raw Video: Obama Budget Goes to Capitol Hill
Arab League Wants U.N. Help in Syria
Nordic Festival Puts North Korea in Spotlight
'Rumor Has It' Adele's Rolling in the Grammys
Grohl, Grammy Nominees Cut Up on the Red Carpet
Greece Passes New Austerity Deal Amid Rioting
Raw Video: Greek Rioting Ahead of Austerity Vote
Raw Video: Child Rescued After Kosovo Avalanche
Pop Music Superstar Whitney Houston Dies at 48
Whitney Houston's Church Mourns Her Passing
Reaction to Houston's Death at Clive Davis Party
79 Turtles Seized at Shanghai Airport
Fuel Removal Under Way on Capsized Italian Ship
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
