justice of the peace

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun An official, especially one associated with a town or county, with judicial power over certain civil cases involving small amounts of damages and certain criminal cases involving minor offenses, as well as exercising other limited powers, such as the power to perform marriages and to authorize arrests.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a local magistrate with limited powers