Conservator of the Peace

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That was a very good summation W.E.G.
Slightly OT but related, the General Assembly is considering the Magistrates Reorganization Bill this year.

It would finally require Magistrates to have something of an education and require the chief Magistrate in each Venue to be an attorney.

I have never understood the rational for allowing the first level of the courts system, to be nearly anyone. While there are many very good Magistrates, that do not have a B.A. there are many more that should not be in the system.

For instance (These may be outdated) Shannon is/was the Chief Magistrate in Richmond. He is an ex-cop and considered the office a division of the Police Department.

John Mehfoud, chief Magistrate in Henrico is a Psychotic little twit who got the job because of his fathers tenure on the Board of Supervisors.

Ms. Martin, Chief Magistrate of Hanover (She may be dead now) was an extremely fat farm woman with a bad attitude toward everyone.

None of the above would qualify under the proposed bill.

These are the people who are supposed to be the first cog in the machine. It's hard to criticize Police Officers about how they execute warrants when there is no discussion concerning IF the warrant should have been issued in the first place.

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Peter that was an excellent and fair analysis. I think EVERY STATE NEEDS THIS BILL.



Great post

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I don't wish to de-rail this thread onto discussion of Magistrates. But, I do want to point out that Virginia Magistrates are grossly-underpaid in the context of any requirement that a Magistrate be licensed to practice law.

Starting salary for a Magistrate is $38,583.
Nobody can live on that in northern Virginia.
Frankly, it would be hard to live on that almost ANYWHERE in Virginia.
And they want somebody with a LAW DEGREE to take that kind of pay?
A starting job as a cop or a fireman pays better than that!

A starting position as an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney (common just-out-of-law-school job) pays vastly better than that.

Yeah, the Chief Magistrate for a large jurisdicition probably makes a bit more than $39K, but the pay for 95% of the Magistrates still sucks.

http://www.examiner.com/a-647275~Fairfax_magistrates_want_higher_pay.html

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Getting off topic with Magistrate talk...

But I think most of them are retired guys looking to get a little extracash for some easy work.

I have had a few that were not that bright... good charges and they refused to issue a warrant. They basically held their own court and played Judge finding the guy "Not Guilty"

I did my part... Not much else I can do.

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LEO 229 wrote:

Getting off topic with Magistrate talk...

But I think most of them are retired guys looking to get a little extracash for some easy work.

I have had a few that were not that bright... good charges and they refused to issue a warrant. They basically held their own court and played Judge finding the guy "Not Guilty"

I did my part... Not much else I can do.

Click to expand...

Uh Leo....That's what they're supposed to do! Since it's an inferior court, you can always ask the Commonwealth for a direct indictment if you feel their refusal is improper.

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I am talking about magistrates determining PC based on their personal feelings and not the evidence.

Not a big problem.. but some want to play Judge and try the case right there.

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LEO 229 wrote:

I am talking about magistrates determining PC based on their personal feelings and not the evidence.

Not a big problem.. but some want to play Judge and try the case right there.

Click to expand...

Its their job to be the guys that protect uscommoners from overreaching LEOs. Better they error on the side of caution. These days, it seems judges accept just about anything stated in a warrant application without much skepticism.

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ilbob wrote:

LEO 229 wrote:

I am talking about magistrates determining PC based on their personal feelings and not the evidence.

Not a big problem.. but some want to play Judge and try the case right there.

Click to expand...

Its their job to be the guys that protect uscommoners from overreaching LEOs. Better they error on the side of caution. These days, it seems judges accept just about anything stated in a warrant application without much skepticism.

Click to expand...

You obviously missed the point....

It is not about protecting you at all... it is about how they "feel" and this is absolutely wrong.Many laws, as written, are very clear.The magistratesdo not "feel" the person should be charged when the evidence is 100%undisputed.

Do you see the difference?