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Status of Magistrate Judge Positions and Appointments - Judicial Business 2017

During this fiscal year, 72 appointments of full-time magistrate judges were made, including 28 new appointments and 44 reappointments. Eleven individuals were re-appointed to part-time magistrate judge positions, all of them by reappointment. In addition, 75 retired magistrate judges were recalled to service under 28 U.S.C. § 636(h).

The following information is provided pursuant to the reporting requirement of 28 U.S.C. § 604(d)(3). The average age of new appointees to full-time magistrate judge positions was 48 years. New full-time appointees had been members of the bar for an average of 22 years at the time of their appointments. Of the new full-time magistrate judges, at the time of their appointments, 10 had been in private practice, 5 had been assistant United States attorneys, 3 had been state court judges, 2 had been deputy general counsels, 2 had been law clerks, 2 had been professors, 1 had been a part-time United States magistrate judge, 1 an assistant federal public defender, 1 a state assistant attorney general, and 1 a director of a nonprofit organization. No new part-time magistrate judges were appointed this year.

Through September 2017, the Judicial Conference has authorized 541 full-time magistrate judge positions, 32 part-time positions, and 3 combination clerk/magistrate judge positions.

For data on magistrate judge positions, see Table 13.

Table 13
U.S. Magistrate Judge Positions Authorized
2013 - 2017
Year	Total¹	Full Time	Part Time	Combination²	Recalled Judges
2013	574	531	40	3	58
2014	573	534	36	3	73
2015	573	536	34	3	68
2016	573	537	33	3	70
2017	576	541	32	3	75
¹ Total does not include recalled magistrate judges. ² According to 28 U.S.C. § 631(c), with the approval of the Judicial Conference, a clerk or deputy clerk of a court may be appointed as a part-time magistrate judge.