Appointment of New Magistrate Judge - Southern District of Alabama
The Judicial Conference of the United States District Court has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Alabama at Mobile, Alabama. The courts provide fair and impartial justice within the jurisdiction conferred by the Constitution and Congress. Public trust and confidence are enhanced when the judiciary’s workforce is highly competent and dedicated to the cause of justice. The judiciary can and should strive to recruit and retain the best and the brightest individuals from all backgrounds and with diverse life experiences.
The duties of the magistrate judge position are demanding and wide-ranging, including the following: (1) conduct of most preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; (2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; (3) conduct of various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from a district judge; 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. The current annual salary of a United States Magistrate Judge is $229,908. The term of office is eight years; incumbents may be reappointed to successive terms.
To be qualified for appointment, an applicant must:
1) 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 Virgin Islands of the United States;
2) Have been engaged in the active practice of law for a period of at least five years (with some substitutes authorized);
3) Be competent to perform all the duties of the office; of good moral character; emotionally stable and mature; committed to equal justice under the law; in good health; patient, courteous, and capable of deliberation and decisiveness;
4) Be less than seventy (70) years old; and
5) Not be related to a Judge of the district court.
A merit selection panel consisting of attorneys and community representatives will evaluate all applicants and confidentially recommend the five most qualified candidates to the district judges. The judges will then select an individual for appointment, subject to the completion of an FBI full-field background investigation and an IRS tax-compliance review. The selected candidate must also satisfy the financial disclosure requirements of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Pub. L. No. 95-521, 92 Stat. 1824 (1978) (as amended) (codified at 5 U.S.C. §§ 13101-13111), in accordance with the procedures established by the Judicial Conference of the United States.
Application forms and further information regarding the magistrate judge position are available from the Clerk of the District Court.
Christopher L. Ekman, Clerk
U.S. District Court
Southern District of Alabama
155 St. Joseph Street
Mobile, Alabama, 36602
The application form is also available on the court’s website at www.alsd.uscourts.gov. Applicants must submit the original application along with eight (8) copies, each clearly marked “Confidential”, to the Clerk of Court at the address listed above. All applications must be received by the close of business on September 30, 2026.
Each applicant must personally submit a completed application along with a recent, substantive writing sample. Letters of recommendation are optional and are limited to no more than three. Any letters of recommendation must be submitted with the application.
All applications will be maintained in confidence unless the applicant consents to their disclosure. Applications will be reviewed only by members of the merit selection panel and judges of the district court. The deliberations of the merit selection panel will remain confidential.