JONESBORO — During the Sept. 19 regular meeting of the Clayton County Board of Commissioners, Chief Magistrate Court Judge Keisha Wright-Hill came before commissioners about a salary disparity between the different courts in the county.
Wright-Hill said Magistrate Court judges are the lowest paid in Clayton County, but Clayton is the fourth busiest Magistrate Court in Georgia — handling about 61,000 cases a year.
Under the current system, Magistrate Court judges are paid based on the population of the county.
She explained that no other court salary in Clayton County is based on population and no other metro Atlanta county uses population as a way to calculate salaries.
A way to solve the pay disparity is to tie the Magistrate Court salaries to Superior Court.
In 2017, Probate Court pay was connected to Superior Court and in 1996, State and Juvenile court salaries were connected to Superior Court.
Wright Hill said Magistrate Court operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week — including holidays.
Magistrate handles both misdemeanors and felonies and handles search and arrest warrants, among other duties.
She said she lost two judges in the last 30 days — one to the Clayton County Attorney’s office and one to Juvenile Court.
One judge left in January to go to State Court.
She said those who left cited an “overwhelming amount of work” and salary as why they were leaving.
She said she had three recent candidates but all declined and said the salary was too low — which is the state minimum.
“My judges work tirelessly for the citizens of Clayton County,” she said. “We are not asking for preferential treatment — we are only asking the county is fair.”
Wright Hill emphasized that she has excellent judges but they are “overworked and underpaid”.
“We definitely have to do something,” County Commission member DeMont Davis…
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