News Releases

U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA – TALLAHASSEE DIVISION – SEEKS APPLICANTS FOR U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE

The Judicial Conference of the United States is expected to authorize the appointment of a full-time U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee. The deadline for applying for the Magistrate Judge position is Aug. 1.

The duties of the U.S. Magistrate Judge are demanding and wide-ranging. Magistrate judges conduct most preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; trials and disposition of misdemeanor cases; various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from a district judge; and trials and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants. To be qualified, 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 years (with some substitutes authorized);
• 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 younger than 70 years old, and;
• Not be related to a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

A merit selection panel composed of attorneys and members of the community will review all applicants and recommend to the U.S.  District Judges for the Northern District of Florida, in confidence, the five persons it considers best qualified. The court will appoint an individual to the U.S. Magistrate Judge position following a FBI background investigation and an IRS tax check.

The individual selected must comply with the financial disclosure requirements pursuant to the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. An affirmative effort will be made to give due consideration to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, age (40 and older), gender, religion, national origin, or disability. The current annual salary of the position is $191,360. The term of office is eight years.

Applications and additional information about the U.S. Magistrate Judge position may be obtained from the Office of the Clerk of Court at all four divisional offices of the U.S.  District Court for the Northern District of Florida and on the Court’s Internet website at www.flnd.uscourts.gov.

Applications must be received in accordance with the instructions provided by Aug. 1. Applications and all other requested documents must be submitted only by the applicant personally, indicating the person’s willingness to serve if selected. Applications must be submitted by mail or hand-delivery to:

Jessica J. Lyublanovits, Clerk of Court

ATTN: CONFIDENTIAL VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT 19-MJ-001

Winston E. Arnow Federal Building

100 North Palafox Street

Pensacola, Florida 32502

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 U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. The merit selection panel’s deliberations will remain confidential.

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