Alabama AG boosted staffers' salaries, titles
MONTGOMERY — Attorney General Troy King has used his appointment authority to boost the salaries of some of his top aides, including one with no legal experience who was designated as a paralegal making more than $104,000 annually.
In another case, one person went from being an unpaid summer intern to a chief aide making $57,000 annually. And an employee got a nearly $30,000 salary boost after taking a leave of absence to manage King's campaign.
King spokesman Chris Bence told The Birmingham News that several employees were given new titles, which allowed their salaries to go up, but their responsibilities also increased.
Bence was among those benefiting from the raises.
Bence, 61, serves as King's spokesman and chief of staff. But in state personnel records, he's listed as a paralegal. King sought that designation for Bence this spring although Bence acknowledges he has no legal experience or training. Bence's new job title allowed King to increase his salary from just more than $94,000 a year to just more than $104,400.
State law allows the attorney general to appoint five paralegals but does not specify qualifications for the positions. Paralegals normally assist lawyers with the preparation of cases.
Bence said the attorney general is not bound to fill the paralegal slot with a trained paralegal.
Another employee, John W. Godwin, started working in the attorney general's office last summer as an unpaid intern.
Godwin, now 24, moved quickly to a post paying $10 per hour. Then in July 2007, King appointed him as a special administrative assistant earning $39,456 a year.
