UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
Paul Mannes, Chief Jud^e
Duncan W. Keir, Associate Judge

U.S. Courthouse, Room 300
6500 Cherrywood Lane
Greenbelt, MD 20770 (301) 344-8047

E. Stephen Derby, Associate Judge
James F. Schneider, Associate Judge
Frank L. Monge, Clerk

Garmatz Federal Courthouse, Room 919
101 West Lombard St.
Baltimore, MD 21201 (410) 962-2688

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Dis-
trict of Maryland is part of the United States District
Court for the District of Maryland. With separate
clerks' offices and court dockets, the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court administers debtors' estates and decides con-
troversies between debtors and creditors.
Although Congress enacted emergency bankruptcy
laws in 1800,1841, and 1867, the National Bankruptcy
Act of 1898 was the first comprehensive statute and
governed bankruptcy cases for almost 80 years. Under
the act, the U.S. District Court appointed "referees in
bankruptcy" to handle these cases. The federal Bank-
ruptcy Reform Act of 1978 established independent
bankruptcy courts and judges, a move declared uncon-
stitutional in 1982 by the U.S. Supreme Court. The
Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of
1984 (P. L. 98-353) remedied the jurisdicrional prob-
lems of the 1978 act by designating bankruptcy courts
as units of the federal district courts.
For Maryland, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Fourth Circuit appoints four bankruptcy judges to
fourteen-year terms. The bankruptcy judges ap-
point the bankruptcy clerk.

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGES
Clarence E. Goetz, Chief Magistrate Judge, 2002

Associate Magistrate Judges: Paul M. Rosenberg,
1997; James E. Kenkel, 2001; Daniel E. Klein, Jr.,
2002; Jillyn K. Schuize, 2002; William Conelly,
2003; Susan K. Gauvey, 2004; two vacancies.

Part-time Associate Magistrate Judges: Donald E.
Beachley, 1998; Victor H. Laws, 2000.

Garmatz Federal Courthouse
101 West Lombard St.
Baltimore, MD 21201 (410) 962-4560

400 Presidential Building
6565 Bellcrest Road
Hyattsville, MD 20782 (301) 436-8175

United States Magistrate Judges for the District of
Maryland may conduct initial proceedings in criminal
cases, that is, issue search warrants, arrest warrants, and
summonses; review bail; and set initial appearances.

Upon written consent of the defendant, they may
try and dispose of federal criminal misdemeanor
cases, with or without a jury. With consent of the
litigants, they also may try any civil case pending in
their U.S. District Court. The U.S. Magistrate
Judges oversee pretrial matters and procedures such
as motions, pretrial conferences, prisoner cases,
Social Security cases, and evidentiary hearings.
U.S. Magistrate Judges trace their origins to the
federal Judiciary Act of 1789 which authorized mag-
istrates to set bail in federal criminal cases. In 1812,
federal circuit courts were authorized to appoint such
persons to take affidavits, set bail, and receive fees for
those services. As their duties expanded, these court
officials became known as commissioners by 1817.
Commissioners could try petty offenses committed in
certain national parks in 1894, and, in 1896, a system
of U.S. Commissioners was formally established. Ap-
pointed to four-year terms by the U.S. District Courts,
commissioners exercised the same powers and duties
of their predecessors but were compensated according
to a uniform fee schedule. After 1940, commissioners
could try all petty offenses committed on federal
property if so designated by the appointing U.S. Dis-
trict Court and with written consent of the defendant.
The Federal Magistrates Act of 1968 replaced the
commissioner system with federal magistrates over-
seen by the Judicial Conference of the United States.
The act required magistrates to be attorneys. Magis-
trates retained all the powers and dudes of commis-
sioners, could try and dispose of minor criminal
offenses, and could be assigned additional dudes to
expedite the work of U.S. District Court judges. Since
1968, the pretrial, civil and criminal jurisdiction of
federal magistrates expanded. On December 1,1990,
magistrates were designated U.S. Magistrate Judges.
For Maryland, the U.S. Magistrate Judges are
appointed to eight-year terms by the U.S. District
Court for the District of Maryland. Six serve full-
time and three serve part-time.

UNITED STATES MARSHAL
George K. McKinney, U.S. Marshal
for the District of Maryland, 1999
Donald Donovan, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal

Garmatz Federal Courthouse, Room 605
101 West Lombard St.
Baltimore, MD 21201 (410)962-2220

Under the U.S. Department of Justice, the United
States Marshals Service is the nation's oldest federal
law enforcement agency. It is responsible for the
custody, care, and transportation of federal offenders;
apprehension of federal criminals who jump bail,
violate parole, or escape from prison; and protection
of federal courts, judges, attorneys, and witnesses. The
Service enforces court orders and manages assets
seized or forfeited as a result of their having been
acquired from the profits of certain crimes.