28 U.S.C. § 639
Section 639 · Definitions
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 30 court decisions — leading case Arnstein v. Porter (1946)
Most recently applied in Daniella Araoz v. United States (June 2009)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
As used in this chapter—
(1) “Conference” shall mean the Judicial Conference of the United States;
(2) “Council” shall mean the Judicial Council of the Circuit;
(3) “Director” shall mean the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts;
(4) “Full-time magistrate judge” shall mean a full-time United States magistrate judge;
(5) “Part-time magistrate judge” shall mean a part-time United States magistrate judge; and
(6) “United States magistrate judge” and “magistrate judge” shall mean both full-time and part-time United States magistrate judges.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §528a (July 10, 1946, ch. 548, 60 Stat. 525).
Provisions of section 528a of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., for furnishing seal is included in section 638 of this title.
Changes were made in phraseology.
Amendments
1968—Pub. L. 90–578 substituted definition provisions for prior requirements obligating the Director to furnish docket books and forms to United States commissioners and, with approval of the chief judge of the district court, a copy of the United States Code, declaring such property to remain United States property, and calling for transmission of such property to successors in office or for its disposal as directed by the Director, now incorporated in section 638(a) and (b) of this title.
Change of Name
Words “magistrate judge” and “magistrate judges” substituted for “magistrate” and “magistrates”, respectively, wherever appearing in text pursuant to section 321 of Pub. L. 101–650, set out as a note under section 631 of this title.
Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 90–578 effective Oct. 17, 1968, except when a later effective date is applicable, which is the earlier of date when implementation of amendment by appointment of magistrates [now United States magistrate judges] and assumption of office takes place or third anniversary of enactment of Pub. L. 90–578 on Oct. 17, 1968, see section 403 of Pub. L. 90–578, set out as a note under section 631 of this title.