FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
GREGORY J. FOURATT APPOINTED UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
 
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico today announced the appointment of Gregory J. Fouratt as the District’s newest United States Magistrate Judge effective February 29, 2016. The appointment is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
 
Mr. Fouratt was appointed as Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety in February 2015 by Governor Susana Martinez, and unanimously confirmed by the New Mexico State Senate. From 1997-2014, Mr. Fouratt served as a prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office in New Mexico. During that time, he prosecuted cases in every section of the Criminal Division, both in the main office in Albuquerque as well as the branch office in Las Cruces.  From January 2008 until May 2010, Mr. Fouratt served by appointment of the United States District Court as the United States Attorney.  Prior to his service at the United States Attorney’s Office, Mr. Fouratt was a judicial clerk for a United States District Judge in the District of Arizona. 
 
From 1988 through 2012, Mr. Fouratt served as a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve, and the New Mexico Air National Guard.  He retired from military service in September 2012 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  Mr. Fouratt received his Bachelor of Arts degree from New Mexico State University in 1988 and his Master of Public Administration degree from Golden Gate University in 1991.  In 1995, he graduated first in his class from the Texas Tech University School of Law.
 
The duties of a United States Magistrate Judge are demanding and wide-ranging in both civil and criminal cases. Magistrate Judges will: conduct preliminary proceedings in criminal cases, trial and disposition of misdemeanor actions, discovery, various other pretrial hearings in civil cases, trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants, and other matters as may be assigned.  The basic authority of a United States Magistrate Judge is specified in 28 U.S.C. § 636.  Magistrate Judges are appointed for a term of eight years, and can be reappointed to additional terms.
 
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