The annual salary of most state judges in Connecticut has increased by 30 percent over the past decade according to recently released data from the Office of Legislative Research.
The data shows adjustments to the annual compensation various state justices and court administrators receive that have been made since 2013.
The annual salary of the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the chief court administrator, the chief judge of the Appellate Court, the deputy chief court administrator, and the salaries of supreme court associate justices, and appellate superior court judges will have increased by 30 percent between fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2025. A further round of salary increases for judges is set to go into effect on July 1, 2024.
The salaries of judges serving on the Supreme Court, Appellate Court, and Superior Court, as well as the salaries of the chief and deputy chief court administrator, are set by state statute. They were most recently adjusted by the 2022 biennial budget, signed into law in May 2022.
In addition to the salary outlined by state statutes, judges who are designated administrative judges are also entitled to additional compensation. The amount of additional compensation such judges are entitled to was also raised through the 2022 biennial budget. Beginning July 1, 2022, a judge designated the administrative judge of the appellate system and Superior Court judges designated the administrative judge of a judicial district are entitled to an additional $1,292 in compensation. Superior Court judges designated the chief administrative judge for facilities, administrative appeals, judicial marshal service or judge trial referees or for the Superior Court’s Family, Juvenile, Criminal or Civil Division are also entitled to the same amount of additional compensation.
A bill that became law in May 2022 tied the salaries of certain executive officers to the salaries of judicial officers. As of January 4, 2023 the governor’s annual salary was tied to the chief justice of the Supreme Court’s annual salary. It was previously set in statute at $150,000. When the legislature’s most recently approved judicial salaries go into effect on July 1, 2024, the office of the governor will effectively receive a 60 percent pay increase. However, that increase will not go into effect until after the next gubernatorial election.
The salaries of a number of other constitutional officers, including the lieutenant governor, the state treasurer, and the attorney general, are now tied to the annual salary a judge on the Superior Court receives. Previously, state statute set the annual salaries for each of those offices at $110,00. As of July 1, 2024, those positions will receive $201,023 as an annual salary, an increase of 82.7 percent. Per the law that tied the salaries of constitutional officers to the salaries of judges, those new salaries will not go into effect until after the next election for each position.
**This article has been updated after OFA indicated there were errors in their original report.**
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