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PUBLIC NOTICE FOR APPOINTMENT OF NEW MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Monday, June 15, 2020

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PUBLIC NOTICE FOR APPOINTMENT OF NEW MAGISTRATE JUDGE

     The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Louisiana at Monroe. The essential function of courts is to dispense justice. An important component of this function is the creation and maintenance of diversity in the court system. A community’s belief that a court dispenses justice is heightened when the court reflects the community’s racial, ethnic, and gender diversity.

     The duties of the position are demanding and wide-ranging: (1) conduct most preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; (2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; (3) conduct various pretrial matters 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 a United States magistrate judge is specified in 28 U.S.C. § 636.

     To be qualified for appointment an applicant must:

          (1) 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. The court may consider as substitute experience, including any combination thereof;

  • Experience as a judge of a state court of record or other state judicial officer.
  • Experience as a United States magistrate judge, bankruptcy judge, or other federal judicial officer.
  • Experience as an attorney for a federal or state agency.
  • No more than two years of experience as a law clerk to any judge or judicial officer, or as a staff attorney, or pro se law clerk in a court.
  • Other types of substantial legal experience (subsequent to receipt of a law degree or license to practice law) suitable as a substitute in the opinion of the majority of the district judges of the court.

          (2) 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;
          (3) Be less than seventy years old; and
          (4) Not be related 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 persons 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 1979, Pub. L. No. 95-521, 90 Stat 1824 (1978)(codified at 5 U.S.C. app. 4 §§ 101-111). An affirmative effort will be made to give due consideration to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, age (40 and over), gender, religion, national origin, or disability. The current annual salary of the position is $199,088. The term of office is eight years.

     The application form may be obtained from the Court’s website at www.lawd.uscourts.gov or by emailing the Human Resources Department at lawd_applications@lawd.uscourts.gov. Applications must be completed by applicants personally and must be received by Friday, July 31, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. Applicants must submit an original plus thirteen copies of the application and supporting documentation in an envelope marked “CONFIDENTIAL” to U.S. District Court, Attn: Human Resources, 800 Lafayette St., Suite 2100, Lafayette, La 70501.

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.

 

Click here for NOTICE and APPLICATION