Judicial Salary History

Following is an explanation of the funding of salaries paid to judges in the state of Ohio for the:

Supreme Court
Courts of Appeals
Common Pleas Courts
Municipal Courts
County Courts

View the full Judicial Salary History charts.

Supreme Court
Salaries paid to the chief justice and justices of the Supreme Court are paid from the state treasury.

Courts of Appeals
Salaries paid to the judges of the courts of appeal are paid from the state treasury.

Common Pleas Courts
Salaries paid to judges of the courts of common pleas consist of a state base share, which is fixed by statute, and a local per capita share, which is stated in terms of cents multiplied by the population of the county in which the judge serves. The base share is paid from the state treasury, and the per capita share is paid by the county.

Beginning July 1, 1997, all common pleas judges are paid the same salary consisting of a local and state share. The local share is based on the population of the county and cannot be less than $3,500 or more than $14,000. The local share is deducted from the total salary to determine the state share.

Municipal Courts - Fulltime
Through June 1987, salaries paid to full-time municipal court judges were paid entirely by the local government entity or entities (municipal corporation or county) responsible for funding the court. Beginning in July 1987, a state supplement, payable from the state treasury, was added. The total salaries paid to full-time municipal court judges varied depending on the population of the municipal court district and were limited to the amounts shown in the table.

Effective July 1, 1997, the per capita share was eliminated, and the local share payable to all full-time municipal court judges was fixed at $61,750. Percentage increases through 2008 will be calculated on the full salary with the entire amount added to the state share.

Municipal Courts - Part Time
Salaries paid to part-time municipal court judges traditionally have been paid by the local government entity or entities (municipal corporation or county) responsible for funding the court. Prior to August 1975, this amount was set by the legislative authority of the municipality, but could not be less than the amount stated in the table.

In August 1975, a uniform base salary was established by statute, and a per capita share was added. The total salary payable to a part-time municipal court judge could exceed the amount stated in the table.

Effective July 1, 1997, the per capita share was eliminated and a base salary of $35,500 was fixed by statute. This base salary, which will be paid by the local funding authority, will be supplemented by a state share payable from the state treasury.

County Courts
Through June 1997, salaries payable to county court judges are paid from the county treasury. The amounts stated in the table represent the maximum salary payable to county court judges when combining the uniform base salary and the maximum per capita . Effective July 1, 1997, the per capita share was eliminated and a base salary of $35,500 was fixed by statute. This base salary, which is paid by the county, will be supplemented by a state share payable from the state treasury.

Dates	Chief Justice	Justice	Courts of Appeals	Common Pleas¹
10/53 - 10/55	$16,500	$16,000	$13,500	$13,000²
10/55 - 10/59	$20,000	$18,000	$16,000	$15,000³
10/59 - 12/64	$22,000	$20,000	$18,000	$9,000-$17,000⁴
12/64 - 6/68	$24,500	$24,000	$21,000	$11,000-$19,000⁵
6/68 - 11/73	$32,000	$30,000	$28,000	$14,500-$26,000⁶
11/73 - 4/78	$43,500	$40,000	$37,000	$23,500-$34,000⁷
4/78 - 1981	$55,000	$51,000	$47,000	$33,000-$43,500⁷
1982	$62,000	$58,000	$54,000	$40,000-$50,500⁷
1983	$67,000	$63,000	$59,000	$45,000-$55,500⁷
1984	$72,000	$68,000	$64,000	$50,000-$60,500⁷
1985	$75,000	$70,500	$66,000	$52,000-$62,500⁷
1986	$78,000	$73,000	$68,000	$54,000-$64,500⁷
1987	$81,000	$75,500	$70,000	$56,000-$66,500⁷
7/1987	$86,000	$80,750	$75,000	$60,750-$71,250⁷
1988	$88,500	$83,250	$77,500	$63,250-$73,750⁷
1989	$92,950	$87,400	$81,400	$66,250-$76,750⁷
1990	$97,600	$91,750	$85,450	$69,400-$79,900⁷
1991	$102, 500	$96,350	$89,700	$72,700-$83,200⁷
1992 - 2/96	$107,650	$101,150	$94,200	$76,150-$86,650⁷
3/1996	$110,900	$104,200	$97,050	$78,750-$89,250⁷
1997	$114,250	$107,350	$99,950	$80,800-$91,950⁷
7/1997	*	*	*	$91,950⁸
1998	$117,700	$110,550	$102,950	$94,700⁸
1999	$121,250	$113,850	$106,050	$97,550⁸
2000	$124,900	$117,250	$109,250	$100,500⁸
2001	$128,650	$120,750	$112,550	$103,500⁸
2002	$132,000⁹	$123,900⁹	$115,500⁹	$106,200^8,9
2003	$133,700⁹	$125,500⁹	$117,000⁹	$107,600^8,9
2004	$136,800⁹	$128,400⁹	$119,700⁹	$110,050^8,9
2005	$140,100⁹	$131,500⁹	$122,550⁹	$112,700^8,9
2006	$144,300⁹	$135,450⁹	$126,250⁹	$116,100^8,9
2007	$146,750⁹	$137,750⁹	$128,400⁹	$118,050^8,9
2008	$150,850⁹	$141,600⁹	$132,000⁹	$121,350^8,9
2009	$150,850	$141,600	$132,000	$121,350⁸
2010	$150,850	$141,600	$132,000	$121,350
2011	$150,850	$141,600	$132,000	$121,350
2012	$150,850	$141,600	$132,000	$121,350
2013	$150,850	$141,600	$132,000	$121,350
2014	$150,850¹⁰	$141,600¹⁰	$132,000¹⁰	$121,350¹⁰
2015-2016	$158,400¹¹	$148,700¹¹	$138,600¹¹	$127,450¹¹
2017	$166,350¹²	$156,150¹²	$145,550¹²	$133,850¹²
2018	$174,700¹³	$164,000¹³	$152,850¹³	$140,550¹³
2019	$183,450¹⁴	$172,200¹⁴	$160,500¹⁴	$147,600¹⁴
2020	$186,660¹⁵	$175,214¹⁵	$163,309¹⁵	$150,183¹⁵
2021	$189,927¹⁵	$178,280¹⁵	$166,167¹⁵	$152,811¹⁵

¹ Salaries listed for 10/53 - 10/59 indicate the maximum salary payable to common pleas judges. Salaries listed for 10/59 - 7/97 indicate the minimum and maximum salaries payable to common pleas judges. Salaries listed for 7/97 - 2001 indicate the total salary payable to each common pleas judge.

² $4,000 base salary plus a per capita share not to exceed $9,000.

³ $5,000 base salary plus a per capita share not to exceed $10,000.

⁴ $7,000 base share plus a per capita share not less than $2,000 or more than $10,000.

⁵ $9,000 base share, a per capita share not less than $2,000 or more than $10,000, plus an additional county share based on county population of $500, $1,000, or $1,500.

⁶ Base share plus per capita share not less than $3,500 and not more than $15,000.

⁷ Base share plus per capita share not less than $3,500 and not more than $14,000.

⁸ Effective 7/1/97, salaries of all common pleas judges are made equal. Common pleas salaries consist of a local per capita share of not less than $3,500 and not more than $14,000 and a state share determined by subtracting the applicable per capita share from the total salary listed.

⁹ Salary adjustments for 2002 through 2008 are based on cost of living, not to exceed three percent. In the case of common pleas judges, the cost of living percentage is applied to the total salary with the resulting adjustment added to the state share.

¹⁰ Salaries are set by statute. Judicial salaries have not been adjusted since 2008 when statutory authority for annual increases expired.

¹¹ House Bill 64 (HB64), the 2016-2017 budget law, includes a series of four five percent market adjustments to the judicial compensation schedule. The first adjustment took effect on Sept. 29, 2015.

¹²Second adjustment outlined in HB64.

¹³Third adjustment outlined in HB64.

¹⁴Fourth adjustment outlined in HB64.

¹⁵Senate Bill 296 of the 132nd General Assembly (SB296) includes a series of 1.75 percent market adjustments over nine years (2020-2028).

MUNICIPAL AND COUNTY COURTS
(Figures listed through June 1997 are the maximum salary payable, except as otherwise noted.)

Dates	Municipal (full-time)	Municipal (part-time)	County
1953 - 10/55	$12,000¹	$2,000²	No county courts until 1957
9/1957			$1,000
10/55 - 1/61	$13,000³
10/55 - 12/64		$3,000²
9/59 - 6/68			$4,500^4,5
1/61 - 12/64	$15,000⁶
12/64 - 6/68	$18,000⁶	$4,000²
6/68 - 11/73	$23,000⁷	$6,000²	$6,000⁵
11/73 - 8/75	$30,000⁷	$8,000²
11/73 - 4/78			$8,000⁸
8/75 - 4/78	$31,000⁹	$20,000¹⁰
4/78 - 1981	$38,750¹¹	$25,000¹²	$14,000¹³
1982	$45,750¹¹	$29,200¹²	$18,200¹³
1983	$50,750¹¹	$32,200¹²	$21,200¹³
1984	$55,750¹¹	$35,200¹²	$24,200¹³
1985	$57,750¹¹	$36,400¹²	$25,400¹³
1986	$59,750¹¹	$37,600¹²	$27,600¹³
1/1987	$61,750¹¹	$38,800¹²	$28,600¹³
7/1987	$66,250¹⁴	$39,550¹²	$29,100¹³
1988	$68,750¹⁴	$40,300¹²	$29,600¹³
1989	$71,700¹⁴	$41,800¹²	$30,700¹³
1990	$74,800¹⁴	$43,400¹²	$31,850¹³
1991	$78,050¹⁴	$45,050¹²	$33,050¹³
1992-2/96	$81,450¹⁴	$46,800¹²	$34,350¹³
3/96-12/96	$83,900¹⁴	$48,200¹²	$35,400¹³
1/97-6/97	$86,400¹⁴	$49,650¹²	$36,450¹³
7/97-12/97	$86,400¹⁵	$49,650¹⁶	$49,650¹⁶
1998	$89,000¹⁵	$51,150¹⁶	$51,150¹⁶
1999	$91,650¹⁵	$52,700¹⁶	$52,700¹⁶
2000	$94,400¹⁵	$54,300¹⁶	$54,300¹⁶
2001	$97,250¹⁵	$55,950¹⁶	$55,950¹⁶
2002	$99,800^15,17	$57,400^16,17	$57,400^16,17
2003	$101,100^15,17	$58,150^16,17	$58,150^16,17
2004	$103,450^15,17	$59,500^16,17	$59,500^16,17
2005	$105,950^15,17	$60,950^16,17	$60,950^16,17
2006	$109,150^15,17	$62,800^16,17	$62,800^16,17
2007	$111,000^15,17	$63,850^16,17	$63,850^16,17
2008	$114,100^15,17	$65,650^16,17	$65,650^16,17
2009	$114,100¹⁵	$65,650¹⁶	$65,650¹⁶
2010	$114,100¹⁵	$65,650¹⁶	$65,650¹⁶
2011	$114,100¹⁵	$65,650¹⁶	$65,650¹⁶
2012	$114,100¹⁵	$65,650¹⁶	$65,650¹⁶
2013	$114,100¹⁵	$65,650¹⁶	$65,650¹⁶
2014	$114,100^15,18	$65,650^16,18	$65,650^16,18
2015-2016	$119,850^15,19	$68,950^16,19	$68,950^16,19
2017	$125,850^15,19,20	$72,400^16,19,20	$72,400^16,19,20
2018	$132,150^15,19,20,21	$76,050^16,19,20,21	$76,050^16,19,20,21
2019	$138,800^{15,19,20,21,22}	$79,900^{16,19,20,21,22}	$79,900^{16,19,20,21,22}
2020	$141,229^{15,19,20,21,22,23}	$81,298^{16,19,20,21,22,23}	$81,298^{16,19,20,21,22,23}
2021	$143,701^{15,19,20,21,22,23}	$82,721^{16,19,20,21,22,23}	$82,721^{16,19,20,21,22,23}

Endnotes

¹ $4,000 base salary plus per capita share. Legislative authority could grant an additional amount not to exceed $3,000. Total salary could not exceed the lesser of $12,000 or the salary of a common pleas judge in the same county.

² Amount stated represents the minimum salary payable; salary set by municipal legislative authority.

³ $6,000 base salary plus per capita share. Legislative authority could grant an additional amount. Total salary could not exceed lesser of $13,000 or the salary of a common pleas judge in the same county.

⁴ Effective 12/64 through the present, the county could approve an additional payment not to exceed $2,000 of each county court judge. This optional payment is not included in the salary listed.

⁵ per capita share could not exceed $3,000.

⁶ per capita amount tiered based on population. Legislative authority could grant an additional amount. Total salary could not exceed the lesser of the amount stated or the salary of a common pleas judge in the same county.

⁷ per capita amount tiered based on population. Total salary could not exceed lesser of the stated amount or the salary of a common pleas judge in the same county minus $2,000.

⁸ per capita share could not exceed $4,000.

⁹ Current per capita formula ($0.18/person) established. Total salary could not exceed lesser of $31,000 or the salary of a common pleas judge in the county minus $2,000.

¹⁰ per capita share could not exceed $9,000.

¹¹ Total salary could not exceed lesser of the amount stated or the salary of a common pleas judge in the county minus $3,000.

¹² per capita share could not exceed $10,000.

¹³ per capita share could not exceed $7,500.

¹⁴ Total salary consists of a local base share, local per capita share, and a state share. Total of the local base and per capita shares could not exceed the lesser of $61,750 or the salary of a common pleas judge in the county minus $3,000.

¹⁵ Salaries of full-time municipal court judges equalized. Local per capita share eliminated; total salary consists of local base share (fixed at $61,750) and state share (amount stated minus $61,750).

¹⁶ Salaries of part-time municipal court judges and county court judges equalized. Local per capita share eliminated; total salary consists of local share (fixed at $35,500) and state share (amount stated minus $35,500).

¹⁷ Salary adjustments for 2002 through 2008 are based on cost of living, not to exceed three percent. The cost of living percentage is applied to the total salary with the resulting adjustment added to the state share.

¹⁸Salaries are set by statute. Judicial salaries have not been adjusted since 2008 when statutory authority for annual increases expired.

¹⁹House Bill 64 (HB64), the 2016-2017 budget law, includes a series of four 5 percent market adjustments to the judicial compensation schedule. The first adjustment took effect on Sept. 29, 2015.

²⁰ Second adjustment outlined in HB64.

²¹ Third adjustment outlined in HB64.

²² Fourth adjustment outlined in HB64.

²³Senate Bill 296 of the 132nd General Assembly (SB296) includes a series of 1.75 percent market adjustments over nine years (2020-2028).

The Supreme Court of Ohio & The Ohio Judicial System

Judicial Salary History

The Supreme Court of Ohio
& The Ohio Judicial System