Sec 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.