The District Court of the Virgin Islands hereby notifies the public that it will begin soliciting applications for the appointment of a full-time U.S. Magistrate Judge in the St. Thomas/St. John Division.
The duties of the position are demanding and wide-ranging and include duties 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 authority of a United States Magistrate Judge is specified in 28 U.S.C. § 636.
To be qualified for appointment an applicant must:
- 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 five years (with some substitutes authorized);
- 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 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 tender recommendations of persons deemed best qualified, to the judges of the district court. 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 1978, Pub. L. No. 95-521, 92 Stat. 1824 (1978) (codified at 5 U.S.C. app. §§ 101-111) as implemented by the Judicial Conference of the United States. Due consideration will be given 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 $213,992. The term of office is 8 years.
Application forms for the magistrate judge position may be obtained from Glenda L. Lake, Esquire, Clerk of Court. The form is also available on the court’s internet website at https://www.vid.uscourts.gov/magistrate_application.
Applications must be submitted by applicants, only either in person or by mail, in a sealed envelope, addressed to:
- Attn: Magistrate Judge Selection
- Glenda L. Lake, Esquire
- Clerk of Court
- District Court of the Virgin Islands
- 5500 Veteran’s Drive, Room 310
- St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 00802-6424
All applications must be received in the Clerk’s Office, or postmarked, no later than December 11, 2023.
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.
THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
For more information, please contact:
- Glenda L. Lake, Esquire
- District Court of the Virgin Islands
- 5500 Veteran’s Drive
- St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands 00802
- Email: [email protected]
