The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States magistrate judge for the Central District of Illinois at Springfield.  The annual salary is $201,112.  The eight-year term begins on March 23, 2022.  A court’s essential function is to dispense justice.  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 and include:  (1) conducting most preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; (2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; (3) conducting various pretrial matters, including settlement and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from a district judge; (4) resolving civil cases, sometimes by trial, upon consent of the litigants; (5) preparing report and recommendations on dispositive motions when referred by a district judge; and (6) additional duties not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States.  28 U.S.C. § 636.

To be qualified an applicant must:  (a) 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 U.S. Virgin Islands, and have been engaged in the active practice of law for at least five years (with some substitutes authorized); (b) be competent to perform 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; (c) be less than 70 years old; and (d) not be related to a judge of this Court.  28 U.S.C. § 631.

A merit selection panel of attorneys and other community members will review all applications 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 proposed appointee. The individual selected must comply with the financial disclosure requirements pursuant to the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Pub. L. No. 95-521, 92 Stat. 1824 (1978) (codified at 5 U.S.C. app. §§ 101–111). Applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, age, gender, religion, national origin, or disability.  

Questions may be directed to Court Attorney Heather Rouleau at heather_rouleau@ilcd.uscourts.gov or at 309-671-7292.  Application forms are available from the Clerk or at http://www.ilcd.uscourts.gov/magistrate-judge-vacancy.  An applicant must upload the application at https://www.ilcd.uscourts.gov/content/magistrate-judge-application-submi... by Friday, October 8, 2021.  Unless the applicant consents to additional disclosure, only merit selection panel members, the district judges, and necessary court staff will view the applications.  All deliberations will remain confidential.