HB353 Alabama 2025 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Jim HillRepresentative

Republican

Session

2025 Regular Session

Title

Courts, compensation of certain judicial officials and district attorneys further provided for

Summary

HB353 updates Alabama's judicial and district attorney pay by setting fixed base salaries, applying cost-of-living adjustments, and creating staged increases, while prohibiting local salary supplements and aligning district attorney pay with a constitutional change.

What This Bill Does

It establishes fixed starting salaries for top judicial positions and required COLA adjustments. It creates 7.5% salary increases for circuit/district judges and for chief justice/supreme court justices/appellate judges at 6, 12, and 18 years of service, with rules for moves between roles. It prohibits counties from paying salary supplements to judges and requires most judge salaries to be paid from the state treasury. It sets new pay rules for district attorneys, including a 140,000 starting salary for new DAs, staged 7.5% increases after each term, and COLA adjustments, while protecting existing DAs from reductions and tying their pay to a constitutional amendment. The act becomes effective October 1, 2025 and contemplates a constitutional change affecting DA pay.

Who It Affects

• Judges (chief justice, Supreme Court justices, appellate court judges, circuit judges, district judges) who would receive defined base salaries, annual cost-of-living adjustments, and stepped increases based on years of service, with local supplements removed and state-treasury payments required.
• District Attorneys (DAs) who would have a new pay structure: new appointees/elected after 2021 start at 140,000 with COLA adjustments; existing DAs’ salaries tied to the highest circuit judge plus a 1,000‑dollar gap and increased in 7.5% increments after each term, plus COLA.
• Counties and other local governments, which would no longer pay salary supplements or expense allowances to circuit/district judges or DAs; all such pay would come from the state treasury.
• Administrative Office of Courts and other state officials whose compensation is tied to judge salaries (and the AG is exempted), which would apply the new baseline, COLA, and transition rules to their respective pay structures.

Key Provisions

• Sets initial base salaries: Chief Justice $176,000; Associate Supreme Court Justice $175,000; Appellate Court judge $174,000 (presiding appellate judge +$500/year); Circuit Judge $140,000; District Judge $139,000, with adjustments for cost-of-living changes after Oct 1, 2021.
• Requires annual cost-of-living adjustments to base salaries via the Administrative Office of Courts and applies COLA from events on or after Oct 1, 2021.
• Implements 7.5% salary increases for circuit/district judges after 6, 12, and 18 years of service; and same 7.5% increases for chief justices, Supreme Court justices, and appellate court judges after the same year milestones, plus continued COLA adjustments.
• If a district judge becomes a circuit judge (or vice versa), initial pay is the base salary for the higher position plus bench experience, under defined rules.
• Prohibits local salary supplements; requires compensation for judges to come from the State Treasury; bans county salary supplements or expense allowances for the specified judges.
• For district attorneys, new appointees/elected after Oct 1, 2021 start at $140,000, adjusted for COLA; DAs’ salaries increase by 7.5% after each term (first, second, third) plus any COLA not already granted in the prior term.
• Existing DAs paid under the old scheme may not be diminished; after a constitutional amendment ratifies, DA pay would increase by any COLA not yet reflected in compensation.
• Section 3 provides that the act becomes effective on Oct 1, 2025.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Courts & Judges