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Bar News - August 15, 2003 Morning Mail State Workers 'Top Notch' Editor's note: The following letter originally appeared in the Concord Monitor and is reprinted with the author's permission. I am compelled to respond to Mr. Leighton's letter ("Digging a hole," Concord Monitor, July 22). I am the elected register, and I supervise the Merrimack County Probate Court. The state workers I work with are top-notch! This office has been short one court assistant since June 11, 2002. Although some court business has been slightly delayed during this time, the women who work here continue to give 110 percent effort to keep the paperwork up to date and serve our customers well and cheerfully. With the budget shortages the courts have been experiencing for the last several years, it is a constant balancing act to get everything done. Employees are overworked and underpaid. The average court assistant earns between $19,342 and $24,686. The average court assistant is a woman, and a large percentage are single women with children. The only reason they can afford to work for such a low wage is the health insurance the state provides. In anticipation of the new budget, all pay increases for court employees have been frozen. Now there is talk of adding the burden to court staff of paying for health insurance, too! These are valuable employees. It takes a minimum of six months to train one. They need to be treated fairly and with respect. Jane Bradstreet Editor's note: On July 31, the Monitor published an editorial urging the Legislature to allow the courts budgetary flexibility and criticizing the Legislature for unnecessarily hindering the budgetary efforts of the courts. It can be found at www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/opinion/editoria2003/edit_0733103_2003.shtml. Retired Judges as a Resource I enjoyed the thoughtful article ("Nashua Judge Howorth Hangs Up His Robes - Reluctantly") published in the July 25 issue of Bar News. I am admitted both in Connecticut and New Hampshire (inactive) and was surprised to read that although New Hampshire has a mandatory retirement age for judges, it does not provide a mechanism for such judges to continue their service and contributions the judicial system and its constituents. Might I suggest that New Hampshire looks at Connecticut's system of judge referees that is highly successful and allows 'retired' judges to maintain active trial calendars based on per diem arrangements? Some of my best memories as a clerk with the Connecticut Judicial Branch were while in service to a judge referee who, although formally retired from the bench, maintained a full docket of cases and heard cases ranging from administrative appeals to personal injury claims to claims for injunctive relief. I would not be wandering out on a limb in assuring you that Connecticut's overloaded trial courts would be in far worse shape were it not for the efforts of the judge referees. It is an excellent system, which maintains the wisdom of the judiciary, through the continued employment of otherwise "retired" jurists. William B. Smith Editor's note: New Hampshire does have a provision, RSA 493-A:1, which allows for retired judges to serve as judicial referees, who, according to statute "may be assigned to hear and determine cases in any court by the chief justice of the supreme court or designee; provided, however, that such judicial referee shall not be authorized to preside at trials by jury or to enter judgments."
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