ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES COURTS
The Administrative Office of the United States
Courts is the administrative headquarters of the
federal court system. It was created by congres-
sional act on August 7, 1939 (28 U.S.C.A. § 601),
and since November 6, 1939, it has tended to the
nonjudicial business of the U.S. courts. The
Administrative Office helps Congress monitor
the state of affairs within the federal judiciary. It
arranges clerical and administrative support to
federal district courts and their subdivisions,
and it provides for the various benefits available
to the federal judiciary. Furthermore, by gather-
ing and analyzing statistics and data and report-
ing the findings to Congress and the JUDICIAL
CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES, the
Administrative Office plays an important part in
determining the extent and character of the very
support it provides.
The Director
The director of the Administrative Office is
the administrative officer of all the federal
courts except the Supreme Court. The Judicial
Conference of the United States—the federal
agency charged with overseeing federal judicial
matters—supervises and guides the director’s
work. The director and the deputy director are appointed by the SUPREME COURT OF THE
UNITED STATES.
The director is required to perform a variety
of tasks. First and foremost, the director must
supervise all administrative matters relating to
the offices of clerks and other clerical and
administrative personnel of the federal courts.
These administrative matters can range from
performance policies and pay scales to guidelines
on clerical procedures.
The director is charged with providing many
reports to various governmental bodies. With
the aid of the deputy director and the Audit
Office and other operatives, the director must
examine court dockets, determine the needs of
the various courts, and report the results four
times a year to the chief judges of the circuits.
This allows the federal courts to analyze and
plan for their own clerical and administrative
costs. This information is also used when the
director prepares and submits to Congress the
budget of the federal courts.
The director must submit a report of the
Administrative Office to the annual meeting of
the Judicial Conference of the United States. At
least two weeks before the conference, the director
prepares an overview of the activities of the
Administrative Office and the state of the business
of the courts, together with certain statistical
data submitted to the chief judges of the
circuits. This report also contains the director’s
recommendations on administrative efficiency.
The director submits the report, data, and recommendations
to Congress, and makes all these
materials available to the public.
The director is responsible for many financial
matters of the federal courts. The director
must fix the compensation of employees of the
courts whose compensation is not otherwise
fixed by law, regulate and pay annuities to the
surviving spouses and dependent children of
judges, disburse monies appropriated for the
maintenance and operation of the federal
courts, examine accounts of court officers, regulate
travel of judicial personnel, and provide
accommodations and supplies for the courts
and their clerical and administrative personnel.
The director must also establish and maintain
programs for the certification and utilization
of court interpreters and the provision of
special interpretation services in the courts.
Other duties may be assigned to the director by
the Supreme Court or the Judicial Conference of
the United States.
Probation Officers
The Probation Division of the Administrative
Office supervises the accounts and practices
of the federal PROBATION offices. However, primary
control of probation practices and procedures
is left to the district courts served by the
probation offices. The Probation Division establishes
pretrial services in the federal district
courts according to the Pretrial Services Act of
1982 (18 U.S.C.A. § 3152). The pretrial service
offices report to their respective courts with
information on the pretrial release of persons
charged with federal offenses. These offices also
supervise criminal defendants released to their
custody.
With the Bureau of Prisons of the DEPARTMENT
OF JUSTICE, the Administrative Office
publishes a magazine entitled Federal Probation.
The magazine, issued four times a year, is a journal
“of correctional philosophy and practice.”
Bankruptcy Act
The Administrative Office has special
responsibility for BANKRUPTCY courts. The
Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship
Act of 1984 (28 U.S.C.A. § 152) established
bankruptcy judges as distinct units of the federal
district courts. Under the Bankruptcy Amendments
Act, all cases under Title 11 of the United
States Code and all proceedings related to federal
statute 28 U.S.C.A. § 1334 are to be brought
before federal district courts. Such a case arises
when a person seeks to discharge his or her
debts through judicial proceedings.When a suit
is filed under Title 11, the federal district court
will refer the case to its bankruptcy judges, as
authorized by 28 U.S.C.A. § 157.
The bankruptcy judges are appointed by the
federal courts of appeals and serve a 14-year
term as judicial officers of the district courts.
The number of bankruptcy judges is controlled
by Congress, but the bankruptcy courts are
overseen by the Administrative Office.
The director of the Administrative Office has
specific duties related to the bankruptcy courts.
The director must make recommendations to
the Judicial Conference on logistical concerns
such as the geographic placement of bankruptcy
courts. The director must consider whether
additional bankruptcy judges should be recommended
to Congress; the director is also in
charge of determining the staff needs of bankruptcy
judges and clerks.
Federal Magistrates
Under the Federal Magistrates Act as
amended in 1979 (28 U.S.C.A. § 631), the director
of the Administrative Office must answer to
Congress and the Judicial Conference on the
affairs of federal magistrates. Federal magistrates
are appointed by federal district court judges, and their job is to whittle each case to its
essence before it reaches the district courts. Federal
proceedings are expensive; by ruling on pretrial
motions and issuing various orders at the
pretrial stage, federal magistrates help preserve
judicial resources.
Federal magistrates do not have the full
range of judicial powers available to other federal
judges. For example, they cannot preside
over felony trials. Federal magistrates may conduct
civil or misdemeanor criminal trials, but
they normally conduct pretrial proceedings in
both criminal and civil cases. Owing to their
special function, federal magistrates operate
separately from the district courts and maintain
a separate budget.
With the guidance of the Judicial Conference,
the director supervises the administrative
matters of federal magistrates through the Magistrate
Division of the Administrative Office.
The director prepares legal and administrative
manuals for the use of the magistrates. In addition,
the Administrative Office must conduct
surveys of the federal judiciary to ask questions
on court conditions. With these surveys, the
director makes recommendations as to the
number, location, and salaries of magistrates.
The expansion of magistrate offices depends significantly
on the availability of funds appropriated
by Congress.
The director of the Administrative Office
compiles and evaluates information on the magistrate
offices and reports the findings to the
Judicial Conference. The director must also
report to Congress every year on the general
affairs of federal magistrates.
Federal Defenders
The Administrative Office also assists and
oversees the offices of federal public defenders.
Under the Criminal Justice Act (18 U.S.C.A. §
3006A [1964]), the federal district courts are
required to appoint counsel to criminal defendants
who are unable to afford adequate representation.
The act also authorizes the district
courts to establish federal public defender and
federal community defender organizations. This
can be done in districts where at least two hundred
persons annually require the appointment
of counsel. Two adjacent districts may be combined
to reach this total.
Each defender organization submits to the
director of the Administrative Office an ANNUAL
REPORT of its activities along with a proposed
budget. Because they rely on grants and not regular
funding, community defender organizations
submit grant proposals to the
Administrative Office for the coming year. The
director then submits the proposed budgets and
grants to the Judicial Conference of the United
States for approval. After budgets are determined,
the director pays the defender organizations.
The director also compensates private
counsel appointed to defend individuals
charged in federal court.
In wake of the terrorist attacks of September
11, 2001, the Administrative Office relied on its
newly created Office of Emergency Preparedness.
This office worked with courts around the
United States to develop crisis response plans to
deal with emergency evacuations, relocations,
and the continuation of court business. The
office also arranged for the testing of courthouses
for hazardous materials.
FURTHER READINGS
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Website. Available
online at
(accessed November 10, 2003).
U.S. Government Manual Website. Available online at
(accessed November
10, 2003).
CROSS-REFERENCES
District Court; Federal Courts; Justice Department; Magistrate.
