U.S. DISTRICT COURTS, CLASSIFICATION OF PROSECUTIONS ABOVE THE LEVEL OF MINOR OFFENSE DURING THE
12-MON PERIOD ENDING JUNE 30, 1977-Continued
1 Figures do not include any minor or petty offense prosecutions in the U.S. district courts.
2 The term "misdemeanor" is used here to denote only those misdemeanors for which the fine that may be imposed
would exceed $1,000, that is, beyond the current trial jurisdiction of magistrates.
ESTIMATED COSTS OF S. 1613 *
Enactment of the bill to improve access to the federal courts by amending
the trial jurisdiction of United States magistrates would not involve any direct
additional costs to the Government initially. Moreover, the bill would actually
result in a net savings to the Government over the long run, since the cases that
magistrates would be authorized to try under the bill would otherwise have
to be handled at greater expense by district judges.
The jurisdiction provided to magistrates in the bill would not represent a
major change in the nature of the duties which are currently being performed
by magistrates across the country. It would merely give the district courts
and the litigants greater flexibility to dispose of civil and criminal cases and
allow magistrates to handle a greater volume of the types of duties which they
are now handling, thereby increasing the output of the district courts.
Essentially, the bill would permit a larger number of criminal misdemeanor
cases to be tried before magistrates and would for the first time permit magis-
trates, as well as judges, to try such cases with a jury. On the civil side, the bill
would provide specific statutory authority and procedures for the practice cur-
rently in effect in many districts of having magistrates try civil cases at the
request of the litigants.
To the extent that magistrates conduct a greater volume of proceedings
under the bill upon the consent of the litigants, some increases will inevitably
be needed in the magistrates' appropriation. Such additional costs and support
services, however, would relate entirely to the additional output by the district
courts and would be offset by eventual savings in other appropriations of the
judiciary.
*Prepared by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and the U.S. Department of
Justice.