Maryland’s highest-ranking judge has exempted other judges from taking the furloughs — or pay cuts — he ordered for all other state-funded court employees.
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Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert Bell wrote in a Thursday order that state law does not allow him to order his fellow judges to take the pay cut.
“Under the Constitution of Maryland, this Administrative Order does not apply to judges,” Bell wrote.
State law says that “a judge’s salary may not be diminished during his continuance in office.”
Bell wrote in the order that Maryland is experiencing a “fiscal crisis of extraordinary proportions” and ordered furloughs for state-funded court employees, similar to a plan enacted by Gov. Martin O’Malley for the state workers he controls.
Court employees earning between $40,000 and $59,999 annually will be required to take 16 hours off between Jan. 14 and June 30.
Employees earning more than $60,000 annually will be required to take 24 furlough hours by mid-2009.
Those making less than $40,000 will not be required to take a furlough.
Bell also ordered state courts to close on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 to cut operational costs those days.
The order does not apply to court agencies that are funded by their respective counties or cities.
