A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to modify the bar membership requirements for United States magistrates.
Public Law 97-230 · S. 2706 · 97th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Aug 6, 1982 · Law
Sponsor: Sen. John Tower (R-TX)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Lloyd Bentsen
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Amends Federal law to require Federal magistrates to be members in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands for at least five years prior to their appointment.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · House · discharged from, referred toSubcommittee: Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 10 actions.
- Aug 6, 1982Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-230.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jul 27, 1982PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Jul 23, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
- FloorFloor · Called up by House by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Judiciary Committee
- Jul 13, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Jul 12, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
- Jun 30, 1982FloorFloor · Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Voice Vote.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.