Illinois Judiciary Loves Taxpayer Money

By Sean Stillmaker in News on Oct 16, 2010 4:45PM

When you're looking at the ballot on Nov. 2 you'll see a lot of unfamiliar names that were never mentioned by the media. Those candidates are judges, and Illinois judges are the second highest paid in the country.

Illinois circuit court judges earned $169,555 in 2008. They were only beat by California who ranks first out of the 50 states with their judges earning $178,789.

"We thought Illinois taxpayers deserve to know where their taxpayer dollars are going," said Lee Williams author of the Judicial Pay and Perks in the Prairie State report (PDF).

The entire state court system employs more than 5,000 employees that costs taxpayers more than $500 million in state and local funding, according to the report. Cynthia Cobbs is the director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. She is the highest paid court director nationally with $189,949 salary. She was appointed to the position in 2002 becoming the first woman and African American to head the office in Illinois.

Illinois judges also get perks. The Supreme Court justices, earning $201,819, get free room and board at the state capital when the court is in session. Most other states require judges to relocate to the capital, but in Illinois the third floor of the Supreme Court building contains apartments for the justices where they enjoy free services such as housekeeping, 24-hour security and a cook always at hand.

To his credit, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich vetoed a $2.8 million cost of living increase for the judiciary in 2003. The Appellate court then sued the state.

Jorgensen v. Blagojevich went to the Illinois Supreme Court. The justices, having no problem walking the ethical boundary, affirmed the veto was unconstitutional and gave themselves a raise. “We make every effort to economize whenever and however we can,” Justice Philip Rarick wrote in the 2004 opinion.