 On the death of Archduke Sigismund Francis and the subsequent union of Tyrol with the other Habsburg dominions under Leopold I, the emperor appointed him Vice Chancellor of Upper Austria on 1 October 1665.In view of his origins as a commoner, Hocher declined the position of court chancellor ("Obersten Hofkanzler") but accepted this honour upon his elevation to the hereditary peerage (8 March 1667).Following the Magnate conspiracy Hocher headed the Special Court which sentenced to death the leaders of the conspiracy (Ferenc Nadasdy, Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan) in 1671.