AUGUSTA – Supporters of a bill to boost pay for Maine judges by roughly 20 percent say it would attract and retain high-quality judges, but critics say it’s the wrong time to be asking for a pay increase.

The proposal sponsored by Senate President Beth Edmonds would increase the salaries of Maine Supreme Judicial Court justices from $112,295 to $133,555, and the $129,854 annual salary for the chief justice would grow to $153,588.

Salaries for most Superior Court and District Court judges – all state employees – would increase from $105,292 to $125,542 a year.

The proposed pay increase is based on a report by the Judicial Compensation Commission, a three-member panel appointed by the governor, the Senate president and House speaker. The panel said that despite a pay increase in 1999, Maine’s judiciary lags behind other states for salaries. It also noted that the Legislature has twice in recent years withheld cost-of-living adjustments for judges.

“There’s an enormous sense that judges in this state are paid way less than judges almost anywhere else in the country,” said Edmonds, D-Freeport.

Maine has 60 judges, with seven sitting on the Supreme Court, 17 in the superior courts and 36 in district courts.

While the salaries may seem like a lot, the level of compensation pales in comparison to what can be drawn by the best and brightest attorneys in private practice – the very people the state wants to attract to the judiciary, said Supreme Court Justice Robert Clifford.

“The question is whether the salary is sufficient for the state to attract the best lawyers,” Clifford said.

Whether or not pay raises are well-deserved and long overdue, critics say the state cannot afford the pay increases at this time.

“When we have absolutely no spare money in our state, this is not a possibility,” said Rep. Joan Nass, R-Acton, who serves on the Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Janet Mills, D-Farmington, is keeping an open mind but she said she’s “not terribly optimistic about passage of any bills that look for additional money to that extent.”

Sen. David Hastings III, R-Fryeburg, said salary increases of the size proposed may be a difficult sell, especially when there are competing other needs, such as improved courthouse security and new courthouses in Houlton and Dover-Foxcroft.