A mid-Missouri state lawmaker who’s also an attorney praises Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Russell, who delivered her State of the Judiciary address last week. Chief Justice Russell says that while she may be the “face” of the judiciary in Missouri, the hard work is done in courthouses across Missouri by the approximately 3,600 clerks, bailiffs, court reporters, jury supervisors, juvenile office staff and others, along with more than 400 judges and commissioners. State Rep. Rudy Veit (R-Wardsville), whose district includes Jefferson City, is an attorney and the Missouri House Judiciary Committee’s vice chairman. Representative Veit praises Chief Justice Russell’s speech and her plan to visit all 46 judicial circuits across Missouri. She’s been to 14 thus far. Representative Veit also supports Chief Justice Russell’s call for lawmakers to improve juror pay. Judge Russell notes Missouri’s statutory minimum hasn’t been increased since 1989 and is just $6 per day and 7 cents per mile for traveling from their homes to the courthouse and back. Chief Justice Russell says Missouri judges are embarrassed to tell jurors these rates. Representative Veit agrees. State employee pay is another priority for Representative Veit, who represents thousands of state employees. Missouri Governor Mike Parson says his administration has raised state employee pay by more than 20 percent since he took office in 2018. Missouri’s 47,000 state employees received an 8.7 percent pay raise last February, under a bipartisan plan proposed by Governor Parson. The governor is proposing another state employee pay increase in this year’s budget: 3.2 percent. While Representative Veit likes that, he says it needs to be more:
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