Magistrate Judge - Eastern District of California; Redding

The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a fulltime United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of California at Redding, California to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of United States Magistrate Judge Dennis M. Cota on September 2, 2026. 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 and will include: (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; (4) trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants; and (5) hearing of habeas corpus prisoner petitions and Social Security cases.

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, the Territory of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands of the United States;
• 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 in good health; be patient and courteous; and be capable of deliberation and decisiveness;
• Be less than seventy (70) years old at the time of initial appointment; 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 applications and recommend to the district judges in confidence the five persons it considers best qualified. The court will make the appointments 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, 90 Stat. 1824 (1978) (codified at 5 U.S.C. app. 4§§ 101-111) as implemented by the Judicial Conference of the United States. The panel will identify all qualified applicants without favoring or discriminating based on race, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, national origin, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, disability status, or political affiliation. The current annual salary of the position is $227,608 (2025 salary rate).

The term of office is eight (8) years.

An application form and more information can be found on the “Careers” page of the internet website of the United States District Court – Eastern District of California d.uscourts.gov . For consideration, applicants must submit
1) an introductory cover letter not more than two pages in length,
2) a chronological resume, and
3) a completed “Application for the Position of United States Magistrate Judge” form posted on the aforementioned website page. Applications may only be submitted by applicants on their own behalf (i.e., the nomination of another person will not be accepted). The application packet must be received by Monday, January 5, 2026, as a PDF file sent to email address: CAED-HRourts.gov

Incomplete packets and those submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

To ensure impartiality, please do not have references contact the court or members of the merit selection panel.

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 also will remain confidential.