Status of Magistrate Judge Positions and Appointments - Judicial Business 2016

This year, 72 appointments of full-time magistrate judges were made, including 42 new appointments and 30 reappointments. Six individuals were appointed to part-time magistrate judge positions, five of them by reappointment. In addition, 70 retired magistrate judges were recalled to service under Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(h).

The following information is provided pursuant to the requirement of 28 U.S.C. § 604(d)(3). The average age of new appointees to full-time magistrate judge positions was 49 years. The average age of new appointees to part-time magistrate judge positions was 47 years. New full-time appointees had been members of the bar for an average of 23 years at the time of appointment; new part-time magistrate judges averaged 19 years of bar membership. Of the new full-time magistrate judges, at the time of their appointments, 16 had been in private practice, 10 had been assistant United States attorneys, 6 had been state court judges, 2 had been assistant federal public defenders, 2 had been state deputy attorneys general, 1 had been a general counsel, 1 an associate general counsel, 1 a clerk of court, 1 a law clerk, 1 a law professor, and 1 a state cabinet secretary.

Through September 2016, the Judicial Conference has authorized 537 full-time magistrate judge positions, 33 part-time positions, and 3 combination clerk/magistrate judge positions.

For data on magistrate judge positions, see Table 13.