Appointments of Magistrate Judges - Judicial Business 2014

This year, 67 appointments of full-time magistrate judges were made, 31 of them new appointments and 36 reappointments. Eight individuals were appointed to part-time magistrate judge positions, four of them by reappointment. In addition, 70 retired magistrate judges were recalled to service under 28 U.S.C. § 636(h), with 2 of the judges serving on a recall basis in more than 1 district for a total of 73 positions.

The average age of new appointees to full-time magistrate judge positions was 50 years. The average age of new appointees to part-time magistrate judge positions was 61 years. New full-time appointees on average had 23 years of bar membership; new part-time magistrate judges on average had 34 years of bar membership. Of the new full-time magistrate judges, at the time of their appointments, 10 had been in private practice, 9 had been assistant U.S. attorneys, 3 had been assistant general counsels, 2 had been general counsels, 2 had been assistant federal public defenders, 2 had been state court judges, and 1 each had been a U.S. attorney, a federal public defender, and a law clerk.

For 2014, the Judicial Conference authorized 534 full-time magistrate judge positions, 36 part-time positions, and 3 combination clerk/magistrate judge positions.

For data on magistrate judge positions, see Table 13.