East Baton Rouge Metro Council to consider salary adjustments for city court judges

A new state law allows salary supplements for judges in Louisiana, according to a correspondence from the Louisiana Supreme Court and a memo to Metro Council members.

Act 390, signed into law by the governor in June, provides supplements for judges across the state beginning July 1.

Under the measure:

• Louisiana Supreme Court justices will get $15,280.
• Court of Appeal judges will get $17,680.
• District Court judges will get $14,691.

City and Parish Court judges will get an extra 8.45% of their base salary. For most city courts, like Baton Rouge, this is about $4,684.74. The supplements will be paid out in equal monthly installments, according to the state Supreme Court.

The memo said that Baton Rouge City Court judges must earn the same salary as East Baton Rouge Parish District Court judges due to Ordinance 16612. So, the Metro Council needs to approve a salary increase to align local judges’ pay.

According to the memo, this will mean raising city court judges’ city-parish base pay by $10,006 for Fiscal Year 2025–2026.

“Whenever an increase of this nature occurs, an adjustment is made to the City Court Judges’ general fund salary account so that the combined total of both City and State pay is not more than the annual salary of District Court Judges,” the memo said.

The judiciary is funding the salary supplements from its own reserves this year. This comes after the Louisiana Supreme Court and the Louisiana Judicial Budgetary Control Board confirmed that enough funds are available.

The Metro Council is expected to introduce the matter at Wednesday’s meeting and will open for public comment on Sept. 24.

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