Georgia Chief Justice Michael Boggs used his annual State of the Judiciary address to members of the General Assembly Tuesday to plug two bills raising the salaries of superior court and statewide judges.

“An independent judiciary must be able to attract and retain qualified jurists,” Boggs told a joint session of the Georgia House and Senate.

House Bill 85 and House Bill 86, which contain the proposed pay hikes, were due to get their first airing Tuesday afternoon in the House Judiciary Committee.

Boggs also praised lawmakers for passing a Senate bill last year aimed at improving security for judges by shielding their personal information such as addresses and phone numbers from the public. He cited a recent increase in threats to Georgia judges, including bomb threats last month that forced the closure and evacuation of the Muscogee County Courthouse.

“It is crucial that our courtrooms are secure and those who work within them can perform their duties without fear,” Boggs said. “This means not only upgrading our physical security measures but also implementing comprehensive training so that security situations can be handled effectively, or better yet, prevented altogether.”

Boggs gave a shout-out to Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua, who is chairing a committee that developed training sessions last year to help both judges and lawmakers understand how to better protect themselves and their families from security threats.

The chief justice also updated legislators on efforts to gauge the impact of artificial intelligence technology on the state’s legal system, allow trial judges to address a shortage of court reporters by using a digital recording system, and encourage more lawyers to practice in rural counties where legal help is scarce.

Boggs singled out Cobb County’s Veterans Accountability and Treatment Court program launched in 2014 to improve outcomes for veterans in Georgia’s criminal justice system.

And he asked lawmakers to support legislation to end partisan judicial elections in the few remaining probate and magistrate courts across the state that haven’t switched to nonpartisan elections.

“The moment judges stop interpreting and applying the law as it is written and start making decisions based on their own policy preferences – or when the public starts believing that’s what judges are doing or should be doing – our democratic system of government becomes irreparably damaged,” he said.

“Simply put, an independent judiciary with respect for the rule of law keeps us from becoming a society in which the guy with the biggest stick is in charge.”

Capitol Beat is a nonprofit news service operated by the Georgia Press Educational Foundation that provides coverage of state government to newspapers throughout Georgia. For more information visit capitol-beat.org.