Presiding Magistrate

Description

GENERAL PURPOSE: 

The Magistrate is responsible for presiding over misdemeanors, petty offenses, civil traffic, and local ordinance cases filed with the municipal court and presides over Orders of Protection. The position will require familiarity and application of relevant state statutes, town ordinances, Supreme Court Rules, evidentiary rules, and case law when presiding over trials to the court, trials to a jury, pre-trial conferences, arraignment, motions, and other hearings. The Presiding Magistrate is also responsible for imposing sentences commensurate to the offense and within the parameters allowed by law. In addition, they may be required to conduct initial appearances or arraignments in a jail court environment, in accordance with the Arizona Criminal Rules of Procedure.

The Presiding Magistrate is appointed by the Chino Valley Town Council, who also sets the salary for the position.  The Chino Valley Municipal Court is the judicial department of the Town government and part of the judicial branch of state government.  In order to maintain the Court as a fair, independent, and impartial tribunal, the Court is subject only to the judicial appointments, reasonable policy-making, and appropriations authority of the Town Council.  The Presiding Magistrate administers, coordinates, and balances the independence of the Court as an integral part of the state judiciary, with the practical necessities of being the judicial branch of the Town of Chino Valley government.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The following duties ARE NOT intended to serve as a comprehensive list of all duties performed by all employees in this classification, only a representative summary of the primary duties and responsibilities. Incumbent(s) may not be required to perform all duties listed and may be required to perform additional, position-specific duties.

• Presiding over and adjudicating cases involving alleged violations of criminal state statutes (non-juvenile), criminal traffic state statutes (non-juvenile), civil state statutes, and municipal ordinance.  Also preside over cases involving protective orders and search warrants.
• Conducting arraignments, pretrial disposition conferences, change of plea hearings, sentencings, order to show cause hearings, motion hearings, traffic hearings, jury and non-jury trials, restitution, aggravation/mitigation hearings, if needed, prior to sentencing, and various other court settings as required.
• Researching current case law as it applies to issues presented and, if needed, preparing written opinions.
• Conveys legal opinions to defendants, attorneys, and court staff. Elicits pertinent information and confines witnesses and litigants to relevant issues. Discusses the social implication of offenses with defendants. Confers with attorneys. Gives information on citizens’ rights, and court procedures, and policies. Ordering and signing criminal arrest warrants.
• Imposing sentences after a finding of “guilty” or “responsible”.
• Setting bond schedules.
• Determining the disposition of cash bails, surety bonds, and forfeitures.
• Jury management.
• Appoint and manage Pro-Tempore Magistrates per Administrative Order.
• Ensures all procedures, policies, and operations of the court, case law, statutes, town codes, rules, and code of conduct are followed to maintain integrity of the court.
• Demonstrating continuous effort to improve operations, decrease turnaround times, streamline work processes, and work cooperatively and jointly to provide quality seamless customer service through partnership and leadership with the Court Administrator.
• Supervises and directs the activities of the Court Administrator including assigning caseloads, counseling in procedural matters, and evaluating performance.
• Complying with the Minimum Accounting Standards, Time Standards, Court Security Standards, and Language Access Plan reporting adopted by the Arizona Supreme Court.
• Prepare, review, and approval of an annual budget prepared for the Court in conjunction with the Court Administrator.
• Review and approval of month end financial records prepared by the Court Administrator.
• Providing oral presentations to the Town Council on the state of the judicial branch as requested. Responds to inquiries from the Mayor, Town Council, and other public officials. Communicates with subordinates, town employees, attorneys, representatives from other agencies, and the public to establish and maintain effective work relationships.
• Attending the annual judicial conference and completing mandatory COJET training.
• Performs other related duties as required by the Town Council.

Qualifications

Education and Experience:

• Member in good standing of the Arizona State Bar.
• Preferred minimum of five years of experience in the practice of law representing clients or any combination of training, education, and experience equivalent to 5 years of experience as a lawyer, judge, or hearing officer in criminal or traffic cases, and graduation from an accredited school of law.
• Preferred two years of actual experience in criminal law and experience in a trial courtroom setting.

Required Licenses or Certifications:

• Possession of a valid State of Arizona driver’s license.

Additional Requirements:

• Must be of good moral character.
• Successful completion of a criminal history check and background investigation including fingerprints.
• Arizona resident and a citizen of the United States.

Required Knowledge of:

• Substantive criminal law and state criminal laws applicable to matters filed in Municipal Court and all applicable Rules of Procedures.
• The Rules of Evidence.
• State traffic laws as set forth in Title 28 of the Arizona Revised Statues, Municipal Ordinances, and applicable Rules of Procedure.
• Local court policies, procedures, and rules.
• Case management techniques.
• Principles and practices of personnel management and supervision.
• Municipal Court Questions and Answers, revised March 2009.
• Uses and applications of personal computers and various software applications.

Required Ability to:

• Display a commitment to justice, fairness and the enforcement of law.
• Must possess the ability to demonstrate competent legal analysis.
• Possess excellent communication skills while being dignified, courteous and patient.
• Communicate orally with defendants, witnesses, and the public in group settings to give instructions, present information, and to respond to questions.
• Visually observe people’s behavior in a courtroom setting.
• Comprehend and make inferences from written material.
• Produce written documents with clearly organized thoughts using proper sentence construction, punctuation, and grammar.
• Conduct and control court proceedings, elicit pertinent information, and confine witnesses and litigants to relevant issues.
• Appraise factual situations.
• Make appropriate decisions promptly and in accordance with the law.
• Manage the cases scheduled in the courtroom in an effective and efficient manner.
• Work cooperatively with members of staff, other branches of government, customers, attorneys, and the public.
• Evaluate performance of assigned staff pursuant to applicable personnel policy.
• Maintain proper courtroom decorum through example, application, and enforcement of Rules and Procedures.

Physical Demands / Work Environment: 

• Frequently required to sit, stand, walk, talk, and hear.
• Specific vision abilities required for this job include distance and close vision.
• Ability to lift court case folders, multiple case files, and equipment of the court that could weigh up to 20 pounds.

Salary : $80,500