HIGHLY PAID JUDGE

Paying a drug court judge $110,000 a year is unfair, especially during a
crisis.

Political connections have a way of rearing their ugly heads in South
Carolina, but they seem all the more unseemly during tight budget times.
Our state is in the midst of one of the leanest budget periods in recent
times, and many state workers have gotten pink slips or furloughs.

In steps Sen. John Land, the Democrat from Clarendon and Sumter counties,
to help a former legal secretary and law partner become the state's only
judge to earn a salary for running a drug court full time. Bobbie Reaves is
pulling down $110,000 a year as a drug court judge, putting her salary at
the same level as circuit court judges who handle criminal and civil cases.

Drug courts are a great idea. A small percentage of highly motivated
lawbreakers benefit from the frequent supervision and external motivation
found in these courtroom environments.

Judge Reaves has had five graduates from her program, according to a
Greenville News story by Tim Smith. And she's monitoring another 15 to 20
cases.

But for this, a salary equal to a full-time circuit court judge? The
outrageous salary is made all the worse by this: Judge Reaves' drug-court
judge colleagues volunteer their time. And even worse by this: The state
Solicitors Association had made a common-sense recommendation on dividing
$1 million among all the counties in South Carolina. The group's advice was
ignored after Sen. Land urged the hefty salary for his old friend.

Solicitor Walter Bailey, president of the Solicitors Association, quit over
the inequitable funding made even more indefensible at a time when state
budget shortfalls are hurting prosecutors across the state.

This is an issue for lawmakers looking to trim budgets even more this year
and bring some much-needed credibility to state government. The state
budget and the state's image suffer because of foul-smelling examples such
as this one.