§633 Determination of Number, Locations, and Salaries of Magistrate Judges

Summary

The Director must, within one year after the Federal Magistrates Act was passed, study each judicial district to decide how many full-time and part-time magistrate judges are needed, where they should serve, and what their salaries should be under section 634. The Director must do more surveys later when the Conference thinks it is needed. In each survey the Director must look at local conditions like the area and population served, travel and communication, how much and what kind of court work will come up, and any other important facts. The Director should listen to suggestions from district judges, magistrate judges, U.S. attorneys, bar groups, and others. The goal is a system of full-time magistrate judges, but where a full-time judge is not practical the Director should recommend part-time judges so people can be brought before a federal judicial officer quickly after arrest. After the first surveys, the Director reports recommendations on numbers, locations, and pay to the district courts, the councils, and the Conference. District courts tell their councils their views and reasons; councils send their views and the courts’ reports to the Conference. The Conference then decides the number, locations, and salaries of full- and part-time magistrate judges. Those decisions take effect in a district when that district court says so, but no later than one year after the Conference issues them. The Conference may later change numbers, locations, and salaries as needed, based on new recommendations.