Hofrat's duties?

Question

What would a Hofrat living in an early 19th-century village in Saxony be responsible for doing? I have several ancestors/relatives in the village of Blankenheim (currently in Sachsen-Anhalt, near Sangerhausen) described as Hofrat.  I also have people described as Gerichtsschultheis there and don't have an exact sense of what they did either--would magistrate be a good translation for that? (These are not people I have added to Wikitree yet.)

I've seen Hofrat translated as Privy Councillor, but that's not terribly informative.

Answer 1

Hofrat: After the end of the Holy Roman Empire just a honorific for higher public officials, does not describe any particular activity.

Gerichtsschultheiß: Probably closest to bailiff.

Comments

Thanks!