Ballooning cost of senior judges

Brandon Ortiz of the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader analyzed court records to show that Kentucky's judicial retirement system will pay out at least $1.57 million this year to compensate retired judges who work part-time to ease court backlogs. That's far more than the $420,000 agreed to seven years ago. "That revelation raises questions about whether the program will hurt the judicial retirement fund's long-term health, thus requiring larger subsidies by the state in the future." The retirement system's director denied theHerald-Leader's request for detailed records of service credits that determine the judges' pensions. The paper is appealing the decision.