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[December 29, 2006]

State's circuit judges piling up sick leave: Almost 90% of them took none in 2005

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Dec. 29--MADISON -- Nearly nine in 10 circuit judges used no sick leave last year -- a rate five times that of employees at large state agencies.

Like other state employees, judges can tap their unused sick leave to buy health insurance in retirement. The less sick leave they use now, the bigger the retirement benefit.

Many judges have earned six-figure benefits.

A Journal Sentinel analysis of state records found that 207 of 235 judges, or 88.1%, recorded no sick leave last year. By comparison, 16.9% of employees at large state agencies claimed no sick leave last year, according to an October report by the Legislative Audit Bureau.

In 2005, six of seven Supreme Court justices and 12 of 16 appeals judges recorded no sick leave, records show.

"It's basically what I was concerned about," said Sen. Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield). "Obviously, people have been abusing sick leave to use it for" retirement purposes.

Judges said they were less likely to take sick leave than other state employees because their absence would disrupt the schedules of litigants, lawyers and jurors.

Kanavas and other legislators have written bills to end the benefit for themselves, judges and other elected officials in response to Journal Sentinel articles that show politicians rarely use their sick leave. In the past four years, only two legislators used sick leave and only one of six constitutional officers did so.

After the newspaper reported on lawmakers' use of sick leave, some legislators retroactively claimed sick time to cover days on which they missed votes for health reasons.

If judges leave state service before they turn 55, they do not get the benefit unless they have worked for the state for more than 20 years. That requirement applies to all regular state employees, but not legislators and constitutional officers.

The Journal Sentinel used the open records law to obtain sick leave information for all judges from the state Supreme Court, which manages the court system. The newspaper used state formulas to calculate the cash value of their benefits.

No state employees, including judges, can take the benefit in cash.

Appellate Judge Thomas Cane, who has been on the bench since 1972, has a benefit worth more than $364,000, the most of any appeals judge. Topping the list for circuit judges is Winnebago County Circuit Judge William Carver, who has a benefit worth $329,200.

Their benefits will continue to grow until they retire.

Both said they had never logged sick leave during their three-decade careers.

Benefit defended

Cane said judges usually work when they don't feel well because canceling court would create scheduling headaches. He said the benefit was good for taxpayers because it curbed abuse by employees who might otherwise treat their sick leave as another form of vacation.

The perk is one benefit that helps retain judges who could make more in the private sector, he said.

Circuit judges earn $119,606 a year, and appeals judges earn $126,782 a year.

Carver, the Winnebago County judge, said he is fortunate to be in good health. By not using sick leave, he has built up a larger retirement benefit. But he noted his good health has kept him from calling in reserve judges to cover for him, which would cost taxpayers.

"I'm not ashamed of it, and I'm not embarrassed by it. . . . I don't think the public is getting shortchanged," Carver said. "I have never had another judge come in and work for me and be paid for it."

Carver, 68, will receive Medicare when he retires. He can use his sick leave credits to buy secondary insurance, but he said it would be unlikely that he and his wife would use up his $329,200 benefit because of their age.

"I'll be dead long before I can spend that," he said.

Among those who have not used sick leave in the past four years is Washington County Circuit Judge Annette Ziegler, who is running for the Supreme Court in April. Ziegler's campaign spokesman, Mark Graul, said she had used sick leave in 1999 or 2000.

She will not use the benefit when she retires, he said. Some lawmakers have made that same pledge, but taxpayers have no guarantee they will not use it because there is no way to irrevocably waive the benefit, according to the state Department of Employee Trust Funds.

Supreme Court justices

Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, who has worked for the state for four decades, has accrued a benefit worth $447,800, the most of any elected official in the state. Justice N. Patrick Crooks has a benefit worth $325,300, and three other justices -- Ann Walsh Bradley, David Prosser Jr. and Jon Wilcox -- have benefits worth more than $200,000 each.

In total, the benefit for the seven Supreme Court justices is worth $1.7 million.

Abrahamson was the only justice to take sick leave in 2005. She has taken about 52 hours of sick leave over the past four years. Two other justices -- Bradley and Wilcox -- have used sick leave during that same period.

Amanda Todd, a spokeswoman for the Supreme Court, said it was unfair to compare judges to rank-and-file employees when it comes to using sick leave. Judges are more likely to work through illnesses because their absence affects so many people, she said.

She said judges have schedules that require them to write opinions on weekends and take calls from the police in the middle of the night to approve warrants.

Judges report their sick time to the Supreme Court.

"As elected officials, judges are entrusted to claim the time when they are out due to illness, so it's not something the Supreme Court polices," Todd said.

One hundred and eight circuit judges qualify for bonus sick leave credits when they retire because they have worked for the state for 15 years or longer. In Carver's case, for example, the bonus is worth $119,100. His $329,200 benefit includes that bonus.

Copyright (c) 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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