Bill
HB 511
HB 511 raises magistrate pay statewide with a step-based salary scale and $11.5 million/year to the AOC, effective July 1, 2025, to improve recruitment and retention.
Status & basic info
- Bill number: HB 511
- Title: Award Magistrates Salary Increases
- Introduced: November 12, 2024
- Subject areas: Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC); Courts; Employment; Judicial Department; Magistrates; Personnel; Public Salaries & Benefits
- Current status (per provided timeline): Passed 1st reading; referred to appropriations committees; legislative actions underway.
Purpose and intent
- To increase statutory salary levels for magistrates, provide funding to implement those increases, and set the schedule for step increases. The intent is to raise magistrate pay statewide to improve compensation, recruitment, and retention.
Key provisions
- Appropriation: Effective July 1, 2025, the bill appropriates $11,500,000 from the General Fund to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) in recurring funds for each year of the 2025–2027 fiscal biennium to be allocated for magistrate salary increases (Section 1).
- Revised salary schedule (G.S. 7A‑171.1 amended): Effective July 1, 2025, the Administrative Officer of the Courts shall set annual salaries for magistrates consistent with the bill’s step schedule. The statute:
- Defines a full‑time magistrate as one assigned to work an average of not less than 40 hours per week.
- Establishes step progression rules: initial appointment at the entry rate; advancement to the next step every two years for increases to Steps 1–3, and every four years for increases to Steps 4–6 (measured from the magistrate’s original appointment anniversary).
- Inserts specific salary figures (example ranges shown in the bill):
- One pay scale: Entry $47,228 → Step 6 $75,415.
- A higher pay scale: Entry $56,674 → Step 6 $90,498.
- (The bill text presents both scales; the Administrative Officer of the Courts will designate applicability per statute.)
- Administrative implementation: The Administrative Officer of the Courts will set salaries after consultation with the chief district judge, and will designate whether a magistrate is full‑time. The appropriation to the AOC is provided to support implementation statewide.
- Effective dates: Salary and appropriation provisions are effective July 1, 2025. The remainder of the act is effective upon becoming law unless otherwise specified.
Who is affected
- Primary: Magistrates across the state (especially those designated full‑time).
- Administrative Office of the Courts: responsible for implementing the pay changes and distributing funds.
- State budget / General Fund: recurring appropriation of $11.5 million per year in the 2025–2027 biennium.
- Potential secondary effects: local court operations (recruitment/retention), and any county or local entities that interact with magistrates; fiscal effects on Executive/legislative budgeting decisions.
Procedural / timeline notes
- Appropriation and salary changes take effect July 1, 2025.
- The AOC must implement new salaries and step progression rules following enactment and the statutory timing.
- The appropriation is described as recurring for each year of the 2025–2027 biennium in the bill text; future biennia funding would depend on subsequent appropriations.
Potential fiscal and operational impact
- Direct fiscal impact: an explicit recurring General Fund appropriation of $11.5 million per year (as set out in the bill) to cover magistrate salary increases.
- Operational impacts: higher wages can improve recruitment and retention of magistrates, potentially reducing vacancies and turnover; administrative work needed at the AOC to apply new pay table and track step progression.
- No additional fiscal breakdown (per magistrate or by county) is provided in the bill text; the AOC is tasked with allocation.
Notes / caveats
- The bill text contains two salary scales; the statute empowers the Administrative Officer of the Courts to designate full‑time status and to set salaries consistent with the new statutory tables. If further detail is needed (e.g., how the two scales apply), review of the bill’s enrolled version, agency implementation guidance, or AOC allocations would be required.
- This summary focuses on the magistrate salary provisions in the North Carolina HB 511 text provided. Several unrelated HB 511 drafts from other states appear in the document bundle; they are not addressed here.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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