Chief justice promises to fight for higher judicial salaries

MIDDLETON — Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Pat Roggensack is telling the state's judges that she plans to lobby legislators to raise their salaries.

Roggensack made the remarks at the annual state judicial conference Wednesday in Middleton during her State of the Judiciary Address. The speech was her first State of the Judiciary Address since taking over as the high court's leader earlier this year.

She said she has consulted with chief justices in other states about ways to coax more money out of the Legislature and plans to employ what she called "new methods" to achieve raises.

She didn't mention any specifics, but she told reporters later that she plans to argue that higher salaries will attract a diverse array of top-tier attorneys with a wide-range of experience to the judiciary.