Administrative Office of the United States Courts
Encyclopedia
The Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) is the administrative agency
of the United States federal court system
. It was established in 1939.
The AO is the central support entity for the federal judicial branch. It provides a wide range of administrative, legal, financial, management
, program, and information technology
services to the federal courts.
The AO is directly supervised by the Judicial Conference of the United States
, the body that sets the national and legislative policy of the federal judiciary and is composed of the chief judge
s from each judicial and geographic circuit and the chief judge of the Court of International Trade.
The AO implements and executes Judicial Conference policies, as well as applicable federal statutes and regulations. The AO facilitates communications within the judiciary and with Congress
, the executive branch, and the public on behalf of the judiciary.
s, probation and pretrial services officers, court reporter
s, and public defender
s.
, who serves as the head of the Judicial Conference.
Other senior managers
in AO are an Associate Director for Management and Operations, an Associate Director, and a General Counsel
. It also works through various offices in the federal judiciary including the Office of Congressional, External, and Public Affairs; the Office of Judicial Conference Executive Secretariat; the Office of Court Programs; the Office of Facilities, Security, and Administrative Services; the Office of Finance and Budget; the Central Violations Bureau
; the Office of Human Resources and Statistics; the Office of Information Technology; and the Office of Judges Programs. Each of these offices is responsible for its own specific area such as staffing, the functioning of specific courts, budget analysis, employee training, and technology support and training.
By the early-twentieth century, some judges expressed concern that the Justice Department’s administrative oversight of the courts was ineffective and, more important, posed the threat of interference with the judicial process. Reform proposals ranged from separate appropriation bills for the courts to the authorization of senior circuit judges as administrators for all the courts within their respective circuits. Some circuits established conferences of judges to discuss problems of case management and court administration. The Roosevelt administration’s Judicial Reorganization Bill of 1937, best known for its provision to enlarge the Supreme Court, included provision for appointment of a proctor who would gather data on the business of the courts and make recommendations for reassignment of judges and improved case management. Many district court judges resisted this centralization of authority over individual courts that had operated with so much autonomy for a century and a half, but there was widespread support for some reform that would facilitate judicial business and eliminate the Justice Department’s role in the daily operations of the federal courts.
After the defeat of Roosevelt’s "court-packing" plan, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes
responded to suggestions for less sweeping administrative changes. He appointed members of the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges to work with representatives of the American Bar Association
and Justice Department officials to draft legislation that would improve the efficiency of the courts at the same time that it respected the decentralized character of the federal judicial system. The committee’s proposed Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts would collect information on the caseload of the courts, prepare the annual budget request for the courts and disburse funds appropriated to the judiciary, and offer administrative assistance to the courts. The act authorized the Supreme Court to select the director of the Administrative Office, but, at the insistence of Chief Justice Hughes, the office was to operate under the supervision of the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges rather than the Court.
The committee proposal found broad support in both the Senate and House of Representatives, which considered several versions before passage in August 1939. The act established circuit judicial councils through which the courts of appeals judges would review the caseload reports of the Administrative Office and instruct district judges on what was necessary to expedite the courts’ business. It also mandated annual circuit conferences at which circuit and district judges would meet with members of the bar to discuss judicial administration.
announced his appointment on April 20, 2006. Duff took office on July 1, 2006, succeeding Leonidas Ralph Mecham
, who held the position for more than two decades.
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
of the United States federal court system
United States federal courts
The United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
. It was established in 1939.
The AO is the central support entity for the federal judicial branch. It provides a wide range of administrative, legal, financial, management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
, program, and information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
services to the federal courts.
The AO is directly supervised by the Judicial Conference of the United States
Judicial Conference of the United States
The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial courts in the United States...
, the body that sets the national and legislative policy of the federal judiciary and is composed of the chief judge
Chief judge
Chief Judge is a title that can refer to the highest-ranking judge of a court that has more than one judge. The meaning and usage of the term vary from one court system to another...
s from each judicial and geographic circuit and the chief judge of the Court of International Trade.
The AO implements and executes Judicial Conference policies, as well as applicable federal statutes and regulations. The AO facilitates communications within the judiciary and with Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, the executive branch, and the public on behalf of the judiciary.
Mission
The mission of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) is to provide a variety of support functions to the United States federal judiciary. The AO prepares and submits the budget for the courts to the Judicial Conference for approval by Congress. It analyzes legislation from Congress that will affect the courts' operations or personnel, and it interprets and applies the new laws. It also provides administrative help to members of the courts in the form of clerkCourt clerk
A court clerk is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining the records of a court. Another duty is to administer oaths to witnesses, jurors, and grand jurors...
s, probation and pretrial services officers, court reporter
Court reporter
A court reporter, stenotype reporter, voice writing reporter, or transcriber is a person whose occupation is to transcribe spoken or recorded speech into written form, using machine shorthand or voice writing equipment to produce official transcripts of court hearings, depositions and other...
s, and public defender
Public defender
The term public defender is primarily used to refer to a criminal defense lawyer appointed to represent people charged with a crime but who cannot afford to hire an attorney in the United States and Brazil. The term is also applied to some ombudsman offices, for example in Jamaica, and is one way...
s.
Structure
The director of the AO is appointed by the Chief Justice of the United StatesChief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
, who serves as the head of the Judicial Conference.
Other senior managers
Senior management
Senior management, executive management, or management team is generally a team of individuals at the highest level of organizational management who have the day-to-day responsibilities of managing a company or corporation, they hold specific executive powers conferred onto them with and by...
in AO are an Associate Director for Management and Operations, an Associate Director, and a General Counsel
General Counsel
A general counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. The term is most used in the United States...
. It also works through various offices in the federal judiciary including the Office of Congressional, External, and Public Affairs; the Office of Judicial Conference Executive Secretariat; the Office of Court Programs; the Office of Facilities, Security, and Administrative Services; the Office of Finance and Budget; the Central Violations Bureau
Central Violations Bureau
The Central Violations Bureau is a national center in the United States charged with processing federal violation notices issued and payments received for petty offenses committed on federal property. Federal tickets are issued by federal law enforcement professionals as well as some military...
; the Office of Human Resources and Statistics; the Office of Information Technology; and the Office of Judges Programs. Each of these offices is responsible for its own specific area such as staffing, the functioning of specific courts, budget analysis, employee training, and technology support and training.
History
In 1939, with the establishment of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and the circuit judicial councils, Congress for the first time provided the judiciary with budgetary and personnel management agencies that were independent of the executive branch of government. For 150 years, administrative responsibility for the federal courts shifted from the Treasury Department to the Interior Department in 1849 and to the Justice Department in 1870. (The Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, established in 1922, was an advisory body.) By the late 1930s, a coalition of judges, lawyers, academics, and Justice Department officials agreed that the efficient administration of justice, as well as the principle of judicial independence, required a separate agency with officers appointed by and responsible to a body of judges.By the early-twentieth century, some judges expressed concern that the Justice Department’s administrative oversight of the courts was ineffective and, more important, posed the threat of interference with the judicial process. Reform proposals ranged from separate appropriation bills for the courts to the authorization of senior circuit judges as administrators for all the courts within their respective circuits. Some circuits established conferences of judges to discuss problems of case management and court administration. The Roosevelt administration’s Judicial Reorganization Bill of 1937, best known for its provision to enlarge the Supreme Court, included provision for appointment of a proctor who would gather data on the business of the courts and make recommendations for reassignment of judges and improved case management. Many district court judges resisted this centralization of authority over individual courts that had operated with so much autonomy for a century and a half, but there was widespread support for some reform that would facilitate judicial business and eliminate the Justice Department’s role in the daily operations of the federal courts.
After the defeat of Roosevelt’s "court-packing" plan, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...
responded to suggestions for less sweeping administrative changes. He appointed members of the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges to work with representatives of the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
and Justice Department officials to draft legislation that would improve the efficiency of the courts at the same time that it respected the decentralized character of the federal judicial system. The committee’s proposed Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts would collect information on the caseload of the courts, prepare the annual budget request for the courts and disburse funds appropriated to the judiciary, and offer administrative assistance to the courts. The act authorized the Supreme Court to select the director of the Administrative Office, but, at the insistence of Chief Justice Hughes, the office was to operate under the supervision of the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges rather than the Court.
The committee proposal found broad support in both the Senate and House of Representatives, which considered several versions before passage in August 1939. The act established circuit judicial councils through which the courts of appeals judges would review the caseload reports of the Administrative Office and instruct district judges on what was necessary to expedite the courts’ business. It also mandated annual circuit conferences at which circuit and district judges would meet with members of the bar to discuss judicial administration.
Past Directors
- Henry P. Chandler, 1939–1956
- Warren Olney III, 1958–1967
- Ernest C. Friesen, 1968–1970
- Rowland F. Kirks, 1970–1977
- William F. Foley, 1977–1985
- Leonidas Ralph MechamLeonidas Ralph MechamLeonidas Ralph Mecham is the former Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, having served in that position from 1985 to 2006. He was appointed to the position by United States Chief Justice Warren Burger in July 1985.-Biography:Ralph Mecham was born April 23, 1928, in...
, 1985–2006 - James C. DuffJames C. DuffJames C. Duff is the president and CEO of the Freedom Forum, the nonpartisan foundation dedicated to the First Amendment and media issues and which runs Washington, D.C.’s Newseum, the First Amendment Center, and the Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.-Education...
, 2006–
Present Administration
Jim Duff is the current Director of the AO. Chief Justice John RobertsJohn Roberts
John Glover Roberts, Jr. is the 17th and current Chief Justice of the United States. He has served since 2005, having been nominated by President George W. Bush after the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist...
announced his appointment on April 20, 2006. Duff took office on July 1, 2006, succeeding Leonidas Ralph Mecham
Leonidas Ralph Mecham
Leonidas Ralph Mecham is the former Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, having served in that position from 1985 to 2006. He was appointed to the position by United States Chief Justice Warren Burger in July 1985.-Biography:Ralph Mecham was born April 23, 1928, in...
, who held the position for more than two decades.