United States Commissioner

E278893

A United States Commissioner was a now-abolished federal judicial officer who handled preliminary criminal matters and minor offenses before the creation of the modern U.S. magistrate judge system.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
United States Commissioner canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf federal judicial officer
historical legal office
abolishedBy federal legislation creating U.S. magistrates
appointedBy United States district court judges
authorityType judicial officer with limited powers
category United States federal judges
legal history of the United States
couldNot conduct felony trials
enter final judgment in serious criminal cases
country United States of America
surface form: United States
decisionReview subject to review by district judges
function accepted criminal complaints
conducted initial appearances in criminal cases
conducted preliminary examinations in criminal cases
handled minor federal offenses
handled preliminary criminal matters
issued arrest warrants
issued search warrants
set bail in federal criminal cases
handled minor federal misdemeanors
preliminary hearings in felony cases
historicalRelation predecessor of U.S. magistrate judges
historicalSignificance early form of federal magistrate system
jurisdiction federal courts of the United States
legalAuthority derived from federal statutes
legalBasis Acts of Congress establishing commissioner system
legalDoctrine separation of powers in the United States
legalStatus abolished office
legalSystem common law
oversightBy United States district court judges
partOf federal judiciary of the United States
purpose to assist federal district courts with preliminary matters
to provide local access to federal judicial functions
relatedTo United States district court judge
United States magistrate judge
replacedBy United States magistrate judge
United States magistrate judge system
United States magistrate system
roleInProcedure pretrial phase of federal criminal cases
scopeOfAuthority limited jurisdiction
non-Article III judicial officer
selectionMethod appointment rather than election
status defunct position
subordinateTo United States district courts
surface form: United States district court
timePeriod 19th century
20th century
usedIn federal criminal procedure of the United States
workLocation federal judicial districts

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

United States Magistrate Judges predecessor United States Commissioner
subject surface form: United States Magistrate Judge