With the authorization of the United States Judicial Conference, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas is accepting applications for the appointment of a full-time United States Magistrate Judge in El Paso, Texas. The duties of the positions are demanding and wide-ranging: (1) conduct most of the preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; (2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; (3) conduct of various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from a district judge; and (4) trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants. The basic authority of a United States Magistrate Judge is specified in 28 U.S.C. § 636.