 |
|
|
 |
Return to Employment |
Pay Tables |
Judiciary Salary Plan | Court Personnel System | Court Reporters | Special Rate Schedules The Judiciary Salary Plan (JSP) covers all court unit executives and their second-in-command (type II) chief deputies; chambers staff; and pro se, death penalty, and bankruptcy appellate panel law clerks. The JSP base pay table essentially mirrors the General Schedule (GS) base pay table, which is developed and authorized by the executive branch. While the GS base pay table has 15 grades, the JSP base pay table has 18 grades. The higher grade levels in the JSP pay table are primarily used for court unit executives and their type-II chief deputies. The Court Personnel System (CPS) covers the majority of court employees, such as those that work in appellate court units, bankruptcy and district court clerks' offices, probation/pretrial services offices, etc. The CPS classification system provides 12 classification levels (CL-21 through 32), with CL-32 at the top of the job hierarchy. The 12 classification levels in the CPS base pay table have pay rates and steps that are different from, but linked to, the base GS pay rates. The CPS classification system provides a two-part salary range for each level, divided into 61 pay steps. Steps 1 through 24 constitute the developmental range; steps 25 through 61 constitute the full performance range. Step 25 of the CPS pay tables for each classification level is the same as step 1 of a specific grade on the corresponding GS pay table. The broad two-part salary range and large number of pay steps afford considerable flexibility in pay administration. CPS Pay Rates (non-law enforcement officer) CPS Law Enforcement Officer Pay Rates Each district court employs a number of salaried judiciary employees to provide official court reporting services. Court reporters in the federal judiciary have a unique compensation structure that includes both salary and transcript income. The salary structure of court reporters consists of five base pay levels, and five locality pay levels for each of the 32 locality pay areas. Incremental movement through the levels is authorized for longevity and "merit certificates" as noted on the Court Reporters' Rates of Pay chart. An applicant for appointment as an official court reporter in a United States district court must have, as a minimum requirement, at least four years of prime court reporting experience in the free lance field of service or in other courts or a combination thereof, and have qualified by testing for listing on the registry of professional reporters of the National Court Reporters Association or have passed an equivalent qualifying examination. Court Reporter Pay Rates (pdf) Special rate schedules apply to positions such as legal technicians/clerks and typists in certain geographic areas experiencing recruitment and retention problems due to higher pay rates for similar positions in the private sector. While there are still some special rate schedules that remain in effect, many special rate schedules, and certain grades of special rate schedules, have been eliminated as those rates have been superseded by locality rates. |
