AN ACT awarding legislative salary increases to magistrates and appropriating funds for that purpose.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Effective July 1, 2025, there is appropriated from the General Fund to the Administrative Office of the Courts the sum of eleven million five hundred thousand dollars ($11,500,000) in recurring funds in each year of the 2025‑2027 fiscal biennium to be allocated for magistrate salary increases authorized by this act.

SECTION 2.  Effective July 1, 2025, G.S. 7A‑171.1 reads as rewritten:

§ 7A‑171.1.  Duty hours, salary, and travel expenses within county.

(a)        The Administrative Officer of the Courts, after consultation with the chief district judge and pursuant to the following provisions, shall set an annual salary for each magistrate:

(1)        A full‑time magistrate shall be paid the annual salary indicated in the table set out in this subdivision. A full‑time magistrate is a magistrate who is assigned to work an average of not less than 40 hours a week during the term of office. The Administrative Officer of the Courts shall designate whether a magistrate is full‑time. Initial appointment shall be at the entry rate. A magistrate's salary shall increase to the next step every two years on the anniversary of the date the magistrate was originally appointed for increases to Steps 1 through 3, and every four years on the anniversary of the date the magistrate was originally appointed for increases to Steps 4 through 6:

Table of Salaries of Full‑Time Magistrates

Step Level              Annual Salary

Entry Rate                 $47,228

Step 1                        $50,714

Step 2                        $54,475

Step 3                        $58,457

Step 4                        $63,228

Step 5                        $68,973

Step 6                        $75,415.

Entry Rate                 $56,674

Step 1                        $60,857

Step 2                        $65,370

Step 3                        $70,148

Step 4                        $75,874

Step 5                        $82,768

Step 6                        $90,498.

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SECTION 3.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.