2023-01-18
Click on the following URL link to access Public Notice: Appointment of New U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of PR
Click on the following URL link to access Application for U.S. Magistrate Judge
United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
Public Notice
APPOINTMENT OF NEW U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE
The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. The essential function of courts is to dispense justice.
The duties of the position are demanding and wide-ranging, and will include, among others: (1) conduct of preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; (2) trial and disposition of criminal misdemeanor cases; (3) conduct of various pretrial matters (civil and criminal) and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from a district judge; and (4) trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants. The basic authority of the United States Magistrate Judge is specified in 28 U.S.C. § 636.
To be qualified for appointment an applicant must:
- 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 (5) years;
- 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;
- Be less than seventy years old; and
- Not be related by blood or marriage 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 district judges in confidence the five applicants it considers best qualified. The Court will make the appointment, following an FBI full-field investigation and an IRS tax check of the applicant selected by the court for appointment. The individual selected must comply with the financial disclosure requirements pursuant to the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Pub. L. No. 92- 521, 90 Stat. 1824 (1978) (codified at 5 U.S.C. app. 4 §§ 101-111) as implemented by the Judicial Conference of the United States. An affirmative effort will be made to give due consideration to all qualified candidates, without regard to race, color, age (40 and over), gender, religion, national origin, or disability. The current annual salary of the position is $213,992.00. The term of office is eight (8) years.
Application forms and other information, including how to apply, may be obtained from the Court’s website at www.prd.uscourts.gov or at the Office of the Clerk of Court. Only applicants may submit applications and applications must be received by 4:30p.m. on Friday, February 24, 2023. Applications must be submitted by email to usmjvacancy@prd.uscourts.gov in PDF format in a single PDF file. Zip files, faxes and non-PDF formats will not be accepted.
All applications will be kept confidential, unless the applicant consents to disclosure, and all applications will be examined only by members of the Merit Selection Panel and the judges of the District Court. The panel’s deliberations will remain confidential.
Type:
Press Release