Judicial Officer Law and Legal Definition
18 USC § 3156(a)(1) defines the term “judicial officer” as any person or court authorized pursuant to section 3041 of this title, or the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, to detain or release a person before trial or sentencing or pending appeal in a court of the United States, and the term also includes any judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Bail Reform Act’s definition of ‘judicial officer’ includes any federal judge or magistrate.
“Judicial officer” is a person, usually, an attorney, who serves in an appointive capacity at the pleasure of an appointing judge, and whose actions and decisions are reviewed by that judge. It is also a special master; commissioner; hearing officer. TD Props., LLC v. VP Bldgs., Inc., 635 F. Supp. 2d 123, 125 (D. Conn. 2009).
