US Magistrate Judge

The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States magistrate judge for the District of Hawaii at Honolulu, Hawaii. 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 from all backgrounds and life experiences.

The duties of the position are demanding and wide-ranging, such as (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.

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 70 years old; and

(5) 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 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 compliance 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) (as amended) (codified at 5 U.S.C. 13101-13111) as implemented by the Judicial Conference of the United States. The current annual salary of the position is $229,908. The term of office is eight years.

Application forms and more information on the magistrate judge position in this court may be obtained from the Clerk of Court, U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii, Prince Kuhio Federal Building and Courthouse, 300 Ala Moana Blvd # C338, Honolulu, HI 96850.

The application form is also available on the court's website:

PDF:

DOCX:

Applications must be submitted by applicants personally and must be received by Friday, July 24, 2026.

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.

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