United States District Court

Posted:   July 16, 2012

United States District Court
Southern District of Florida
Public Notice

 United States Magistrate Judge
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Florida at Fort Lauderdale.  This appointment will succeed the incumbent who was appointed as United States district judge.   The basic jurisdiction of the United States magistrate judge is specified in Title 28, United States Code, Section 636. The duties of the position are demanding and wide ranging, including, but not limited to: 1) conducting most preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; 2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; 3) conducting various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from the judges of the district court; 4) trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants; and 5) assist the district court with any “additional duties as are not inconsistent with the Constitution and Laws of the United States.”

To be qualified for the appointment an applicant must:

1.  Be, and have been for at least five years, a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Territory of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands of the United States, and have been engaged in the active practice of law for a period of at least five years (with some substitutes authorized);

2.  Be competent to perform all the duties of the office; be of good moral character; be emotionally stable and mature; be committed to equal justice under the law; be in good health; be patient and courteous; and be capable of deliberation and decisiveness;

3.  Be less than seventy years old; and
4.  Not be related to a judge of the district court.

A Merit Selection panel composed of attorneys and other members of the community will review all applicants and recommend to the judges of the district court, in confidence, the names of at least five applicants for the position whose character, experience, ability and commitment to equal justice under law fully qualify them to serve as a United States magistrate judge.  The Court will make the appointment, following an FBI full-field investigation and an IRS tax check of the appointee.  An affirmative effort will be made to give due consideration to all qualified candidates, including women and members of minority groups. The current annual salary for the position is $160,080.00.  The term of office is eight years.

Click here for Administrative Order 2011-50.