$200,000 a year with plenty time off to spend it.

Judge King may draw up to $200,000

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King has resigned but remains unopposed on the ballot for the Nov. 4 general election and says he may retake the bench when his new term starts in January.

If that happens, King stands to collect nearly $200,000 a year in pension benefits and salary.

He plans to file for a pension from the Public Employees Retirement System.

If he returned to the bench, he would draw a pension of an estimated $81,200 a year plus a circuit judge's full annual salary of $116,000.

http://www.dailymail.com/News/200810150243

The judge resigned Tuesday and filed to begin collecting his $80,000 state pension from taxpayers as a retiree. But he's unopposed on the Nov. 4 ballot, so he's sure to win re-election for another eight-year term. That means he could return to the bench in January and get his regular $116,000 salary from taxpayers - plus the $80,000 like a bonus. King says he's unsure whether he will resume his judge post.

Earlier this year, if King had announced his intention to quit, both Democratic and Republican lawyers undoubtedly would have filed for his job. Or if he had revealed his plan during the summer, the Republican Party could have named a candidate to oppose him. But he said nothing.

It seems likely that King concealed his plan until it was too late for anyone to run against him, both in the primary and general campaigns. Once the deadline for late opponents had passed, and his re-election was guaranteed, he finally made his intentions public.

Did he trick Kanawha residents by letting them assume that he would stay on the bench? When he filed for re-election for another eight years, he didn't imply that he might quit before Election Day. This smacks of duplicity. Judges are supposed to be pillars of honesty.

http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/Editorials/200810150596

pillars of honesty, ......... HUH?