HOLLIDAYSBURG — The Blair County Salary Board agreed Wednesday to create three new jobs and increase pay rates for select court-related positions, as requested by President Judge Wade A. Kagarise.

The new positions call for a civil court case manager, with a hiring hourly pay range of $16.29 to $17.92, a fiscal operations officer with a hiring salary range of $46,805 to $50,549 and a court recorder position with a pay level to be established.

The salary board also voted in favor of setting a new annual starting salary of $50,624 for law clerks, up from the current starting salary of $41,000. Of the county’s five law clerk positions, Kagarise said only two are filled and applicants are minimal.

The board also agreed to adjust the pay grades for the court’s criminal case manager and custody case manager positions so hiring pay ranges for both positions range between $16.29 and $17.92, aligning them with the civil court case manager.

The board’s actions come at a time when county departments and personnel are involved in an in-house effort to examine county jobs and pay inequities that weren’t resolved despite a commissioned salary study and follow-up efforts.

At Wednesday’s salary board meeting, Kagarise spoke of the need for the civil court case manager to handle the work now falling to others, which could be more efficiently handled by a designated person.

While the judge initially asked for a starting hourly pay of $21.50 to $24.50, he later joined fellow salary board members — commissioners Dave Kessling, Amy Webster and Laura Burke and Controller A.C. Stickel — in approving the $16.29 to $17.92 hiring range that equates to the hourly starting wage for the county’s custody case manager position, which is now vacant.

Kagarise also agreed to the $46,805 to $50,549 hiring salary range for the court’s fiscal operations officer after proposing a $64,000 annual starting salary, as set for the county’s finance director’s position.

Salary board members pointed to other county departments with dedicated fiscal officers whose hiring salaries range from $46,805 to $50,549, depending on education and experience.

On the court recorder position, Kagarise distinguished it from a court reporter position by explaining that a court recorder’s skills are focused on management of courtroom recording equipment.

If court reporter positions remain difficult to fill, Kagarise said that court recorder positions may be an alternative, but at this time, he said he was asking to create only one recorder position and to research an appropriate pay. Salary board members agreed that they would want to consult the United Mine Workers of America on compensation for what will be a union job.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.