22-125

22-125. Justice of the peace compensation;
judicial productivity credits

A. The annual salary of each justice of the peace is determinable on the basis of
the total judicial productivity credits of each court as reported in statistics compiled
by the Arizona supreme court according to the following formula:

1. Total civil filings, excluding those small claims filings heard by a volunteer
hearing officer, divided by ten equals __________ judicial productivity
credits. Juvenile hearings pursuant to section 8-323, excluding juvenile traffic
violations, shall be counted as civil filings.

2. Total felony complaint filings divided by ten equals __________ judicial
productivity credits.

3. Total misdemeanor filings divided by ten equals __________ judicial productivity
credits.

4. Total traffic filings of a violation of sections 28-662 through 28-664, 28-693,
28-702.01, 28-702.04, 28-708, 28-1381 and 28-1382 divided by ten equals __________
judicial productivity credits.

5. Total of all other traffic filings divided by sixty equals ___________ judicial
productivity credits.

B. Total judicial productivity credits for a justice of the peace is the sum of the
figures computed in subsection A of this section.

C. The board of supervisors shall use the average number of cases filed annually in
each justice court for the two year period ending December 31, 1979 to determine the
initial judicial productivity credits for each of the case load categories described in
subsection A of this section. The board of supervisors shall compute judicial
productivity credits every two years thereafter using the average annual filings for the
preceding two year period.

D. In determining the compensation levels appropriate to the case load of each
justice of the peace, the board of supervisors shall use the total judicial productivity
credits as follows:

1. Five hundred or more judicial productivity credits, seventy per cent of the
annual compensation payable to a judge of the superior court.

2. Two hundred to four hundred ninety-nine total judicial productivity credits,
sixty-five per cent of the annual compensation payable to a judge of the superior court.

3. One hundred fifty to one hundred ninety-nine total judicial productivity
credits, fifty-five per cent of the annual compensation payable to a judge of the
superior court.

4. One hundred to one hundred forty-nine total judicial productivity credits, fifty
per cent of the annual compensation payable to a judge of the superior court.

5. Fifty to ninety-nine total judicial productivity credits, forty-five per cent of
the annual compensation payable to a judge of the superior court.

6. Twenty-five to forty-nine total judicial productivity credits, thirty-five per
cent of the annual compensation payable to a judge of the superior court.

7. Twenty-four or fewer total judicial productivity credits, a part-time case load
for one justice of the peace, twenty-five per cent of the annual compensation payable to
a judge of the superior court.

E. If a justice court is not assigned clerical help, the board of supervisors shall
multiply the total judicial productivity credits by two for purposes of determining
compensation.

F. If the board of supervisors divides a justice precinct into two or more
precincts, the board shall set the level of compensation consistent with the intent of
this section until such time as statistics are available for computation of compensation
levels using the formula prescribed by this section.

G. The board of supervisors shall review and adjust the level of compensation for
each justice of the peace within the county every two years beginning January 1, 1983.

H. The judicial productivity credits for any justice court precinct shall not
exceed twelve hundred credits. If the total judicial productivity credits of a justice
court precinct exceed twelve hundred credits, the county board of supervisors shall
create sufficient courts, or redraw the justice court precinct boundaries according to
section 22-101, in order to reduce the judicial productivity credits for any precinct
which exceeds that limit.