AUGUSTA – Maine’s chief justice on Tuesday made a case before a legislative committee for increasing salaries for the state’s judges, saying they have taken on increasing caseloads while seeing promised cost-of-living increases eliminated.

Leigh Saufley, chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and the state’s top court administrator, acknowledged that money is tight and there are many competing funding needs.

“I know that this is not an easy bill for this committee,” Saufley told the Judiciary Committee, which held a hearing on a bill based on recommendations of a three-member panel appointed by the governor, the Senate president and House speaker.

Saufley said the state’s judges have managed a growing caseload, particularly in the area of domestic violence, but watched as legislatively approved cost-of-living increases were in effect rescinded in 2003 and 2004.

Saufley led other judges and the head of the Judicial Compensation Commission, Sandra Featherman, in recommending approval of the increases. Annual pay for supreme court justices would rise from $112,295 to $133,555, and the $129,854 salary for the chief justice would grow to $153,588.

Salaries for most superior and district court judges would increase from $105,292 to $125,542 a year.

“We have the lowest-paid judges by far in New England and 44th [lowest] in the nation,” said Featherman, who described the state’s judiciary as “excellent and overworked by almost any standard.”

Featherman said the proposed increases, which would still leave Maine judges’ pay on the lower side in New England and the nation, would help to attract the brightest and most qualified attorneys to the bench.

“We are proposing really a very modest increase,” Featherman said.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert Clifford told the committee that the compensation commission recommendations seek only to restore what previous commissions have recommended, with cost of living increases. Clifford said keeping judges adequately paid helps to keep them out of the political arena.

“But we have to, in fairness, lobby to ensure we’re fairly compensated,” said Clifford. If the judicial pay increases are approved, “we could stick to judging and stay away from politics.”

No one spoke against the judicial pay bill, but critics have said now is the wrong time to approve it because the state can’t afford the two-year price tag of nearly $2.6 million.

A second bill reviewed by the committee Tuesday enables judges who are former legislators to transfer credits in the Maine Legislative Retirement System to the Maine Judicial Retirement System.