Section 491-A:4 Probate Judges; Salaries.
I. For purposes of calculating the annual salaries of part-time judges appointed after October 3, 1986, the supreme court shall establish and revise as needed a weighted case value, relating the judicial time required for each type of case included in the court's jurisdiction, which when multiplied by the caseload of each court will produce the number of weighted case units for that court. Any revisions to the weighted case values shall be approved by the fiscal committee. The number of weighted case units, as calculated annually by the administrative office of the courts, shall serve as the basis for determining the salary of part-time justices.
II. The following compensation schedule shall be used when calculating salaries for part-time probate judges from October 3, 1986:
Weighted Case Units Step Increase Per 100 Case Units 1 2 3 4 5 0""499 $2,500 $3,217 $3,928 $4,642 $5,356 500""999 6,070 6,784 7,498 8,212 8,926 1000""1499 9,640 10,354 11,068 11,782 12,496 1500""1999 13,329 14,162 14,995 15,828 16,661 2000""2499 17,494 18,327 19,160 19,993 20,826 2500""2999 21,659 22,492 23,325 24,258 24,991 3000""3499 25,824 26,657 27,490 28,323 29,156 3500""3999 29,989 30,822 31,655 32,488 33,321 4000""4499 34,154 34,987 35,820 36,653 37,486 4500""4999 38,319 39,152 39,985 40,818 41,651 5000""5250 42,484 43,317 43,733 -- --
III. The salary of a part-time justice shall not exceed 70 percent of the taxable salary of a full-time district court justice as provided by RSA 491-A:1. Judicial time shall be measured in weighted case units which shall reflect judicial time required to process a case. The compensation per weighted case unit shall be proportional to the taxable compensation for a full-time judge. A part-time justice, whose weighted caseload equals 3.5 judicial days per week, shall receive the maximum salary as provided by this section. The compensation schedule provided in this section shall be based upon the taxable salary of a full-time district court justice pursuant to RSA 491-A:1.
IV. The supreme court, after reviewing population, caseload, judicial time and efficiency, available judicial resources, the needs of the judicial branch family division, and other relevant criteria, may request the governor and council to designate a sitting part-time probate judge as a full-time judge. The court may recommend certain judges; however, the governor and council shall not be bound by that recommendation. Upon designation, that judge shall become full-time. Prior to making its request, the supreme court shall receive the approval of the fiscal committee and there shall be funds in the court's budget specifically appropriated for the salary and benefits of an additional full-time probate judge.
Source. 1987, 384:3. 1992, 284:15. 1995, 308:48, eff. July 1, 1995. 2003, 311:5, eff. July 1, 2003. 2005, 177:16, eff. July 1, 2005.