Municipal Judge

City of Maypearl; Fort Worth (TX); On-site; USD 55,000 - 83,000; Part time

Job summary

City of Fort Worth seeks a Substitute Municipal Judge to support the Municipal Court Judicial Division. This part-time role requires working from the A. D. Marshall Municipal Court Building and Belknap Detention Center in downtown Fort Worth, with varied day/evening/weekend shifts.

Minimum qualifications include a Juris Doctorate, Texas law practice experience, active Texas bar license, US citizenship, and Fort Worth residency. The Chief Judge oversees appointment processes.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctorate from an accredited law school.
• Two or more years of experience practicing law in Texas.
• Active license to practice law in Texas and in good standing with the State Bar of Texas.
• Be a United States citizen and reside in Fort Worth during appointment.

Responsibilities

• Presides over various municipal court dockets as assigned.
• Arbitrates disputes and advises counsel, litigants, and court staff on court procedures.
• Issues search/arrest warrants; sets bail for Class C misdemeanors and other warrants.
• Maintains court procedures, reviews new laws and major court decisions.
• Attends required continuing legal/judicial education and staff meetings.
• Ensures availability to work all shifts, including overnights and weekends.

Education

Juris Doctorate

Job description

The City of Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing large cities in the U.S. Our employees serve the needs of over 1,000,000 residents, promoting our values of exceptional customer experience, mutual respect, embracing our diversity, continuous improvement, ethical behavior, and accountability.

A Substitute Municipal Judge job is available with the City of Fort Worth Municipal Court Judicial Division. This part-time judge position will assist with all operations, services, and activities of the Municipal Court. The selected applicant will be required to work from the A. D. Marshall Municipal Court Building at 1000 Throckmorton Street and Belknap Detention Center at 350 W. Belknap, both in downtown Fort Worth.

Judges may work up to 19 hours per week and are required to be on duty and/or on-call 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Specific work assignments will include day, evening, and weekend shifts. Substitute Judges are required to work weekdays, weekends, holidays, vacations, and as needed when the full-time judges are off. Court work assignments at A. D. Marshall Municipal Court Building, 1000 Throckmorton, are weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Arraignment work assignments at 350 W. Belknap are 1st shift (12:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.), 2nd shift (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and 3rd shift (4 p.m. to 12 a.m.), seven days per week.

The Chief Judge is responsible for screening applicants and making a recommendation to the City Council. The Fort Worth City Council appoints or reappoints part-time Municipal Court Judges for a term of two (2) years, commencing April 1 of each even-numbered year.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Juris Doctorate from an accredited law school
• Two (2) or more years of increasingly responsible experience in the practice of law in Texas
• Possession of, or ability to obtain, an appropriate, valid license as an attorney issued by the Supreme Court of the State of Texas, and a member in good standing of the State Bar of Texas
• Be a citizen of the United States and the State of Texas
• Reside in Fort Worth at the time of appointment
• Maintain residence in Fort Worth during the tenure of office

Preferred Qualifications:

• Organization and time management
• Ability to maintain control of a courtroom
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively; resolve conflict; utilize strong decision making and critical thinking skills in accordance with law, regulation, and policies
• Ability to interpret and apply legal principles and knowledge to complex legal problems
• Ability to analyze problems, identify alternative solutions, project consequences of proposed actions, and implement recommendations
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships

The Municipal Court Judge job responsibilities include:

• Presides over various dockets as assigned including plea dockets, juvenile/truancy dockets, environmental/code dockets, revocation dockets, arraignment dockets, and other dockets as necessary
• Arbitrates disputes and advising counsel, jury, litigants, and Court personnel on Court procedures; administering the judicial system; and settling disputes between opposing parties
• Issues search and arrest warrants; setting and forfeiting bail for Class C misdemeanors falling under municipal court jurisdiction; and setting bail for felony and misdemeanor arrest warrants
• Processes Class C warrant queues, administrative dockets, cash dockets, and miscellaneous dockets
• Reviews new laws, major court decisions, and other pertinent information relevant to Court procedures and operations on an ongoing basis
• Attends staff meetings, as well as required continuing legal and judicial education
• Ensures availability to work all shifts, including overnights and weekends.

Working Conditions:

Depending on assignment, positions in this class typically require touching, talking, hearing, seeing, grasping, standing, walking and repetitive motions.

Sedentary Work

Depending on assignment, positions in this class typically require touching, talking, hearing, seeing, grasping, standing, walking and repetitive motions.

Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met.

Sedentary Work – Depending on assignment, positions in this class typically exert up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, a negligible amount of force frequently, and/or or constantly having to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects.

Applicants for this position must pass a Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) fingerprint-based background check and maintain CJIS eligibility. Due to CJIS requirements related to system access, the following will result in being disqualified for this position: Felony Convictions, Felony Differed Adjudication, Class A Misdemeanor Conviction, Class B Misdemeanor Convictions in the last 10 years, Class A Misdemeanor, Differed Adjudication, Class B Misdemeanor Differed Adjudication in the last 10 years, an Open Arrest for Any Criminal Offense (Felony or Misdemeanor), and ALL Family Violence Convictions regardless of class.

Conditions of Employment

The City of Fort Worth is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. It is the policy and practice of the City to recruit, hire, train and promote a diverse workforce without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, parental status, military service, or another non-merit factor.

The City of Fort Worth is committed to full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to participate in the job application or interview process and to perform essential job functions.

Candidates who do not meet the Education requirement, may be considered if they have more relevant work experience than the position requires. Those selected for employment will be required to pass Pre-Employment checks depending on the position requirements. Those could include, but are not limited to: criminal background check, drug screen, education verification, etc. criminal convictions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Employees are paid by direct deposit only.