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Kennedy re-appointed as magistrate judge
Heather L. Kennedy has been re‐appointed as part‐time U.S. magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, an appointment she has held since 2013, as the court’s first magistrate judge.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona re‐appointed Kennedy to a new four‐year term commencing June 11, 2017, after an evaluation process including public comments and review by a merit selection panel.
Kennedy also serves as clerk of court, administering the non‐judicial operations of the court, in addition to performing her duties as magistrate judge.
Magistrate judges in federal courts are authorized to perform a range of judicial functions in criminal cases, including issuing arrest and search warrants, and presiding over preliminary criminal proceedings such as initial appearances and detention hearings. For civil cases, magistrate judges may be assigned to
handle non‐dispositive matters, including discovery and settlement conferences, or may preside over cases through trial with consent of the parties.
Kennedy, an attorney with more than 20 years experience, earned a JD from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri. She received a BA degree from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. Prior to joining the federal court, Kennedy served the NMI Public School System and the NMI Judiciary. She worked for a large corporate firm in St. Louis, Missouri, and was an assistant public defender in Charlotte, North Carolina before relocating to Saipan in 1999. She was born in New York and raised in Connecticut.
