alcalde

 

(ălkăl'dē, Span. älkäl'dā) [Span., from Arab.,=the judge], Spanish official title, in existence at least from the 11th cent. Since the late 19th cent. it has been used for the mayor of a town or village who also acts as justice of the peace. Originally, however, it designated a judge whose scope of jurisdiction varied and who had administrative functions as well. There were, for example, alcaldes de la hermandad (judges attached to the tribunals of the town federations formed to assure public order and safety; see hermandad) and alcaldes de corte (judges whose jurisdiction extended over the royal residence and the surrounding area). The alcaldes were distinguished from the regidores, whose functions were primarily administrative. In the 14th cent. the corregidores, royal appointees charged with assisting the regidores in their duties, encroached upon the judicial functions of the alcaldes, depriving them of all but minor civil and criminal jurisdiction. Moreover, alcaldes were increasingly chosen by the crown, with only a few towns keeping the right to choose their own alcaldes (these being known thereafter as alcaldes ordinarios). Since the corregidores were often inadequately versed in law, each usually received advice from two trained lawyers, termed alcaldes mayores, who specialized in criminal and civil law, respectively. The office was also instituted in the Spanish colonies, but changed its character. There the alcalde mayor was the administrator of a provincial division usually smaller than that of a corregidor; he also presided over the town ayuntamiento (later known as the cabildo). The alcalde ordinario was an elected municipal officer who frequently exercised the powers of mayor and sheriff and was in some villages the sole representative of the law.

Alcalde is the Spanish title of the chief administrator of a town. An alcalde's duties usually include both judicial and administrative functions. The title derives from the Arabic al-qadi, meaning "the judge".

This title has been in use in the United States, for example in San Francisco, California (Surocco v. Geary, Supreme Court of California, 3 Cal. 69, 58 Am.Dec. 385, "Geary, at that time Alcalde of San Francisco...").

Stephen Johnson Field, later an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, once served as alcalde of the town of Marysville, California.

In Texas, the position of county judge was based on that of the alcalde which had existed prior to the Texas Revolution. Like the alcaldes before them, county judges under the Texas Constitution wield both judicial and chief executive functions. Although in larger counties today the county judge usually functions solely as county chief executive, in smaller counties, the role of the county judge continues many of the combined judicial and administrative functions of the alcalde.

See also

• Presidente municipal
• Mayor

References

• Alcalde from the Handbook of Texas Online

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