Now is the time for all good J. P.’s to come to the aid of their county

There has been an elephant in the Pike County Fiscal Court meetings for the longest time, and everyone is managing to tiptoe around it. That by itself is a pretty good trick, not tripping over or being stepped on by something that large.

That elephant is a metaphor for the status of the county’s magistrates. In effect, there is nothing that defines what a magistrate’s job should be. Those who have been elected to this position treat it much as their predecessors, the Justices of the Peace, might have. And if anyone remembers the bad old days before the Kentucky Judicial amendment was passed, let’s just say they wouldn’t approve of this setup.

Then, a Justice of the Peace’s district was a political entity with the J. P. in charge, much the way the County Judge/Executive is in charge of the whole county now. The J. P.’s controlled the road departments in their districts and held trials for anyone who was accused of violating any laws.

This is what the Judicial Amendment was meant to correct. Now, of course, judicial and administrative offices are clearly separated, except, of course, the Magistrates have yet to come to grips with this some 40 years later.

So we now have these magistrates, whose only clearly defined role is similar to that of a member of a city council; they represent a district and they attend meetings and vote on laws. And that’s it.

For this they are given what can only be described as the best pay packages this side of professional athletes. As has been mentioned many times, this amounts to around a half a million dollars a year; a $48,000 per year salary per magistrate, vehicles (even if, as was the case with one magistrate, they are kept for up to 7 years), offices and personal assistants.

The whole point is this: The time has come-some time ago, in fact-when the position of magistrate needs to be redefined. And it cannot be as the office of Justice of the Peace once was.

Now mind you, I don’t blame any of the current members of the Fiscal Court for this; they were all elected well after the Judicial Amendment was passed. And I don’t even blame them for not turning down this juicy pay package. No one in their right mind would want to.

But the Magistrates must realize they can no longer be recompensed in this manner. When Judge Rutherford asked the Fiscal Court to consider a 1% occupational tax to make up an expected $1.5 million deficit, they demurred, choosing to make cuts in the county’s operational expenses everywhere, except with magisterial expenses.

Grover Norquist could tell you why they voted against the tax increases. The magistrates themselves would have to tell you why they haven’t cut their own benefits, most of which the county can no longer afford.

The Fiscal Court needs to pass a law that clearly defines what a magistrate is, while setting a far more reasonable pay scale. And their duties shouldn’t have anything to do with areas controlled by the Judge/Executive, such as the county’s road department or Disaster and Emergency Services. These divisions are able to do their duties by themselves.

Who knows? If the Fiscal court is proactive, this might help them out in the long run.