SHERMAN — The story of the Sherman Town Court justices has entered a new chapter.

Following a public hearing on Feb. 4, the Sherman Town Board voted to adopt Local Law No. 1 of 2021, entitled A Local Law to Increase the 2021 Salary of Town Justice James L. VanVolkenburg. The decision reflects the change in VanVolkenburg’s duties, as he is now the sole town justice.

VanVolkenburg has served as town justice for nearly 35 years. In 2020, his salary was decreased from $6,630 to $3,000. This decision was based on a decrease of court cases through the years, said Mark Persons, town supervisor, as well as a deficit in the court budget.

In September 2019, the board voted to eliminate VanVolkenburg’s position and retain only Justice Doug Neal. However, after 72 residents signed a petition for a public vote on the matter, the Nov. 19, 2019, ballot on the matter determined that the town would retain two justices.

In reinstating VanVolkenburg’s position, the town could legally reset his salary, which resulted in the reduction from $6,630 to $3,000. Neal received a salary of $6,700 for 2020.

Justice Neal retired effective Dec. 31, 2020. The board subsequently made the decision to retain only one justice.

Persons said the decision is based on the reduced case load number, as well as the looking at what other judges are being paid in relation to their case loads.

“They (members of the Town Board) determined that $5,000 would be a fair salary,” Persons said. “Also, the court ran a $8,654 deficit last year.”

VanVolkenburg’s wife, Rose, said she and her husband feel the salary is unfair because the casload will increase dramatically when the courts reopen after being closed by the state for nearly 12 months because of COVID.

Persons responded by saying that there will be a backlog of cases carried over from last year. However, while there will be some catching up to do, Persons said, the overall case load is way down.

“Based on that and the deficit, that was one of the reasons the board was very careful to set the wage at an equitable amount,” he said.

Rose VanVolkenburg noted that the wage set by the board is still considerably less than the judge’s former salary. Furthermore, she said, The total justice salary budgeted for 2021 and approved by the board is $9,700.