The Office of Personnel Management soon will begin accepting applications for a new round of administrative law judges, the agency said Wednesday.

A vacancy announcement will be posted on www.usajobs.gov in the coming weeks. OPM said it will accept a limited number of applications, based on projected governmentwide hiring needs, but declined to specify how many applications would be accepted.

When OPM last accepted applications for administrative law judge positions in July 2008, it received its target of 600 completed applications within two days, OPM said.

Applicants who pass a multipart examination process, which includes a written exam and a structured interview, will be included on a new roster of qualified candidates, off of which agencies will fill ALJ positions.

Administrative law judges resolve disputes between citizens and agencies related to decisions made by those agencies, usually involving benefits or regulations. As of March, there were 1,422 ALJs employed at 30 agencies, OPM said. ALJs currently earn between $102,400 and $153,200 annually.

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