The Magistrates Act of 1968 created federal magistrate positions to replace commissioners in each district. It established a salary system and required admission to the bar. Magistrate judges oversee federal proceedings except for criminal offenses. They are authorized by the United States Judicial Conference and handle pretrial hearings, bail amounts, and warrants.
The Magistrates Act is legislation signed into law in 1968 by President Lyndon Johnson that created the first extension of the United States judiciary since the Evarts Act of 1891. The general purpose of the act was to mandate the creation of federal magistrate positions for replace the commissioners of various districts of the country. Prior to the Magistrates Act, every judicial district in the federal government suffered from a lack of compliance. Certain officials within the federal commissioner system handled different aspects of legal matters, depending on the district. Also, the compensation and standards for each district were not relative to each other.
Following Senate Judiciary Committee hearings in 1965, Congress decided it was time to reorganize the federal judiciary, eventually leading to the drafting of the Magistrates Act. Commissioners before the act were paid a sum based on each case they heard. This has resulted in many people with no legal background taking up positions, leading to issues of jurisdiction. Congress established a salary system and a requirement for admission of each magistrate to the bar of the state in which he serves. Further laws were amended in 1979 and 1990 to expand the role of magistrate judges.
In its most basic sense, the Magistrates Act sets the rules and standards under which a federal magistrate judge would operate. District judges assign duties to the magistrate as they see fit, allowing them to oversee federal proceedings except in the case of criminal offenses. This allows the streamlining of the matters on the district files. Each office of judge of the federal magistrate lasts eight years, renewable indefinitely. If the district sees fit, part-time magistrate judges may be added for four-year terms.
The general duties of a judge under the Magistrates Act are authorized by a body known as the United States Judicial Conference. Most commonly, these judges are responsible for overseeing pretrial hearings in civil cases, setting bail amounts for criminal court, and issuing warrants for federal agents. The only criminal proceedings that may be supervised by a magistrate judge within a federal district are those of misdemeanors. However, the defendant has the right to challenge a magistrate’s decision before a district judge.
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