JUSTICE OF THE PEACE
A judicial officer with limited power whose duties may include hearing cases that involve civil controversies, conserving the peace, performing judicial acts, hearing minor criminal complaints, and committing offenders.
Justices of the peace are regarded as civil
public officers, distinct from peace or police
officers. Depending on the region in which they
serve, justices of the peace are also known as
magistrates, squires, and police or district
judges. In some districts, such as the District of
Columbia, justices of the peace are considered
officers of the United States. In other regions,
their jurisdiction is limited to a state, city,
precinct, county, or township.
The position of justice of the peace originated
in England in 1361 with the passing of the Justice
of the Peace Act. In colonial America the position,
with its judicial, executive, and legislative powers,
was the community’s main political force and
therefore the most powerful public office open to
colonists. Legal training was not a prerequisite.
Maintaining community order was a prior-
ity in the colonial era. The justice of the peace in
this period was responsible for arresting and
arraigning citizens who violated moral or legal
standards. By the early 1800s, the crimes han-
dled by the justice of the peace included drunk-
enness, ADULTERY, price evasion (selling below a
minimum price fixed by law), and public disor-
der. Justices of the peace also served as county
court staff members and heard GRAND JURY and
civil cases. The increasing number of criminal,
slave, and tax statutes that were passed during
the 1800s also broadened the enforcement pow-
ers of the justice of the peace.
Today justices of the peace deal with minor
criminal matters and preside only in the lowest
state courts. Their legal duties encompass stan-
dard judicial tasks such as issuing arrest or
search warrants, performing marriage cere-
monies, handling routine traffic offenses, deter-
mining PROBABLE CAUSE, imposing fines, and
conducting inquests.
The duties of a justice of the peace vary by
statute, and it is the justice’s responsibility to
know which actions are within the scope of his
or her jurisdiction. For example, a few statutes
do not allow justices of the peace to be involved
in the operation of another business or profes-
sion; however, they can invest in or receive a
salary from another business, as long as they are
not involved with its operation.
Justices are often considered conservators of
the peace. They can arrest criminals or insane
people, order the removal of people who behave
in a disorderly fashion in a public place, and
carry out other duties designed to maintain or
restore a peaceful community.
Justices of the peace have limited power in
criminal and civil cases. They have jurisdiction
over minor criminal matters, including misde-
