Official site of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States magistrate judge for the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, to be resident in Jacksonville, Florida. Magistrate Judges are selected for a particular division and should expect to remain there for the
duration of tenure.

The duties for the position are demanding and wide-ranging such as: 1) conducting most preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; 2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; 3) conducting various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from the judges of the district court; and 4) trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants. The basic jurisdiction of the United States magistrate judge is specified in 28 U.S.C § 636 and in United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, Local Rule 6.01.

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, or the Virgin Islands of the United States, and have been engaged in the active practice of law for a period of at least 5 years (with some substitutes authorized);
Be competent to perform all 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 less than seventy years old; and
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 judges of the district court in confidence the persons it considers best qualified. The Panel for the Jacksonville position will submit to the court the names of five candidates for such position. The court will make the appointment following an FBI full-field investigation and an IRS tax check of the appointee. The position will be available on October 31, 2013. An affirmative effort will be made to give due consideration to all qualified candidates without regard to race, color, age (40 and over), gender, religion, national origin, or disability. The current annual salary of the position is $160,080.00. The term of office is eight (8) years.

Applicants must use the official application form. The application form may be obtained at the intake counter of the Clerk’s Office in Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlando and Tampa divisions or at the court’s internet website at www.flmd.uscourts.gov. The original and eleven (11) copies of the completed application, including a recent and in-depth writing sample, must be submitted only by the applicant personally (i.e., an application may not be submitted on behalf of another). Applicants submitting bound applications are asked to include one unbound copy. Complete applications must be received, regardless of mode of delivery, at the following address of the Office of the Clerk in Orlando by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 8, 2013. Applications by facsimile transmission cannot be accepted.

Sheryl L. Loesch, Clerk of Court
United States District Court for the
Middle District of Florida
Attn: Magistrate Judge Applications
401 West Central Boulevard
Suite 2100
Orlando, Florida 32801-0210

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.