More perks for Clerk Magistrates

From The Herald:

Almost 200 high-paid clerk magistrates and their assistants are padding their pockets with thousands of dollars in bail fees, a little-known perk payment that fiscal watchdogs say should go to the cash-strapped commonwealth.

The $40 fees are incurred by suspects who pay bail set by clerk magistrates and assistants after hours, when courts are closed. The fee goes straight to the judicial staffers - on top of their salaries of $84,000 to $110,000.

“This is a striking amount of money these fees are generating for these clerks,” said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “They are paid well. This should be part of their responsibilities.”

Critics also warn of a possible built-in conflict of interest in the system: Rather than receive a flat fee for every suspect, magistrates collect the fee only if they set bail for a suspect and the bail is paid, potentially creating an incentive to set low bail.

“It’s clearly a temptation. Clearly from the point of view of a purer justice system, you don’t want this question to arise,” Widmer said. “It doesn’t engender trust in the judicial system to have this inherent conflict there.”

The fees are set by statute and can be changed only by the Legislature.