NORWICH – Whether they like it or not, Chenango County lawmakers will most likely approve raises for Chenango County, Family and Surrogate Judge W. Howard Sullivan and District Attorney Joseph A. McBride on Monday.

The New York State Legislature is mandating the pay hikes, and Chenango’s legal advisor, County Attorney Alan Gordon, says there’s no choice but to comply. The state picks up judges’ salaries, but county taxpayers are responsible for most of the district attorney’s compensation.

The salary increases come after a special commission on judicial compensation determined that the state-aided courts of the New York State Unified Court System had lost talented judges through the years by failing to adequately pay them, and that judges needed to be paid more fairly and reasonably in light of the current economic climate. The commission was formed according to 2010 State Law. State law already dictated that full-time district attorneys’ salaries must be equivalent to county court judges’ salaries.