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Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo (the municipal council) and judge of first instance of a town. Alcaldes were elected annually, without the right to reelection for two or three years, by the regidores (council members) of the municipal council. The office of the alcalde was signified by a staff of office, which they were to take with them when doing their business.The Osuna Codex depicts Viceroy Luís de Velasco granting the staffs of office to the alcaldes and of the Mexica municipality of Mexico City.For a contemporary recording of an alcalde receiving the staff of office from the ayuntaminto, see The Installation of the new Ayuntamiento of Figueres. A woman who holds the office is termed an alcaldesa.
In New Spain (Mexico), alcaldes mayores were chief administrators in colonial-era administrative territories termed alcaldías mayores; in colonial-era Peru the units were called corregimientos.Mark A. Burkholder, "Alcalde Mayor" in Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 1, p. 45. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
Alcalde was also a title given to Indigenous (Native American) leaders inside the Spanish missions, who performed a large variety of duties for the Franciscan missionaries.
The word alcalde originally was used for simple judges, as in Andalusian Arabic. Only later was it applied to the presiding municipal magistrate.Corominas, "Alcalde", 127. This early use continued to be reflected in its other uses, such as alcaldes del crimen, the judges in the Audiencia Real; Alcaldes de la Casa y Corte de Su Majestad, who formed the highest tribunal in Castile and also managed the royal court; alcaldes mayores, a synonym for corregidor; and alcaldes de barrio, who were roughly the equivalent of British . Because of this, the municipal alcalde was often referred to as an alcalde ordinario.
Because the United States incorporated parts of the former Viceroyalty of New Spain, the office had some influence in the local political and legal developments of those areas and is mentioned in judicial cases. This title continued to be in use in the Southwest United States after the Mexican–American War until a permanent political and judicial system could be established.For example, it was in use in San Francisco, as evidenced by Surocco v. Geary, Supreme Court of California, 3 Cal. 69, 58 Am.Dec. 385, "Geary, at that time Alcalde of San Francisco..." Alcaldes were notorious for their support for rule of law and opposition to vigilantes. In nineteenth-century California, Stephen Johnson Field, later an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, once served as the only alcalde of Marysville, California, a town established in 1850 during the Gold Rush by immigrants, who temporarily used the Spanish and Mexican form of municipal government. In Texas, the position of county judge was based on that of the alcalde which had existed in the state 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 to have many of the combined judicial and administrative functions of the alcalde.
The city of Sonoma, California, has a tradition to name an honorary title of Alcalde/Alcaldesa, to preside over ceremonial events of the city, with "mayor" being the official position of city governor.
In Belize, any rural community may appoint an alcalde. The alcalde serves both judicial and administrative functions and is paid a small stipend by the government. The alcalde is responsible for managing communal land, judging disputes, and determining punishment for petty crimes. This type of local government is most commonly used by Maya communities in southern Belize.
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