Congress created the judicial office of federal magistrate in 1968. In 1990, the position title was changed to magistrate judge. The judges of each district appoint one or more magistrate judges, who discharge many of the ancillary duties of district judges so that the judges can handle more trials. There are both full-time and part-time magistrate judge positions, and these positions are assigned to the district courts according to caseload criteria (subject to funding by Congress). A full-time magistrate judge serves a term of eight years; a part-time magistrate judge's term of office is four years. Magistrate judges handle a variety of matters including civil consent cases, misdemeanor trials, preliminary hearings, and pretrial motions.
There currently are 429 full-time magistrate judge positions, 76 part-time positions, and 2 combination clerk of court/magistrate judge positions authorized by the Judicial Conference.
In the fall of 1994, 494 magistrate judge positions were authorized by the Judicial Conference, 406 full-time positions, 85 part-time positions and 3 combination clerk of court/magistrate judge positions.