How To Become A Municipal Court Judge: What It Is and Career Path

What is a municipal court judge and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a municipal court judge. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.04 an hour? That's $31,278 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -1% and produce -600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMunicipal Court JudgeUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $31,278

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate -1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 6.48%

Black or African American 5.66%

Hispanic or Latino 7.90%

Unknown 4.39%

White 75.26%

Gender

female 37.58%

male 62.42%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a municipal court judge

Explore municipal court judge education requirements

Most common municipal court judge degrees

Doctorate

43.0 %

Bachelor's

38.3 %

Master's

7.0 %

Start to develop specific municipal court judge skills

Skills	Percentages
Municipal Court	42.05%
Legal Research	12.03%
Court Judge	9.38%
Jury Trials	9.18%
Subpoenas	7.29%

Research municipal court judge duties and responsibilities

Prepare and manage the annual budget of the court, manage oversight regarding billing procedures in accordance with state regulations.
Process and review all post-conviction appeals motions file by defendants serving long sentences.
Patrol areas in an undercover capacity to combat organize burglary, drug manufacturing/sales and prostitution.
Patrol areas in an undercover capacity to combat organize burglary, drug manufacturing/sales and prostitution.

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