EPHRATA - Prosecutor Angus Lee joins other elected officials in receiving a pay raise in 2012.

The Grant County commissioners approved a 3 percent pay increase for the prosecutor during a recent meeting.

Lee joins the assessor, auditor, clerk, sheriff, treasurer and coroner in receiving a pay raise.

Lee's salary was increased from $11,510 a month to $11,855 a month, according to county records. The increase raises Lee's annual salary from about $138,120 to $142,260.

Commissioner Richard Stevens said the request came from Lee, who wasn't included in the 2009 resolution, which gave other elected officials pay increases. The prosecutor's salary hadn't been changed since 2008.

"We hadn't touched his in some time," Stevens said. "We decided he was right and we gave him 3 percent like the elected (officials.)"

The prosecutor and judges salaries are partially paid for by the state, he said. When the state increased its contribution to about $72,000 in 2008, the county contributed the minimum possible to the salary.

"We haven't adjusted our end of it since 2007," Stevens said. "We couldn't go any lower."

Stevens pointed out Lee did ask for more money, but the commissioners decided to give him the same 3 percent increase other elected officials received in 2012.

The prosecutor didn't respond to questions about the increase, instead pointing to state law. The law states the prosecutor's salary should be the same as a superior court judge, which make about $148,000.

The findings, approved in 2008, state the prosecutor acts as both a state officer and a county officer, according to the law.

"The legislature finds that the salary of the elected county prosecuting attorney should be tied to that of a superior court judge," according to the law. "This furthers the state's interests and responsibilities under the state Constitution and is consistent with the current practice of several counties in Washington state."

It is possible Lee's increase could affect the pay for the director of public defense, Stevens said.