NEWS RELEASE

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

Delay in Funding Courthouses May Affect Judicial System

A federal judge today urged Congress to approve 14 courthouse construction projects, under consideration by a House subcommittee, which already have been delayed by a year. Failure to do so, could negatively impact jurors, witnesses, litigants, lawyers and those who work in federal courthouses.

"Some of the projects are necessary because current leases will be expiring, or site acquisition within the next several months makes good business sense," said Judge Norman Stahl (1^st Cir.). "Others face severe overcrowding caused by explosive caseload growth and/or major security risks." A list of the effected projects and the impact of further delay is attached.

Judge Stahl, chair of the Judicial Conference Committee on Security and Facilities, testified today before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Public Buildings & Economic Development. He was accompanied by Judge Ann Williams (N.D. Ill.), who is the former chair of the Conference's Court Administration and Case Management Committee. She discussed the Conference's consideration of policy relating to courtroom utilization and sharing.

In his testimony, Judge Stahl provided the subcommittee with a status report on the Conference's initiatives to bring greater economy and efficiency to courthouse construction.

United States Courts Design Guide: Working closely with Congress, the Conference has made significant changes to the Judiciary's space standards that should result in cost savings for new projects. The most recent revision focussed on reducing the circulation space needed to move from office to office, which could save as much as $2 million in the average future project.

Courtroom utilization and sharing: This issues is much more complex than simply counting the time the lights are on in a courtroom. The certainty of a trial¾facilitated by the ready availability of a courtroom¾is the most effective incentive to active trial preparation and early settlement. Nevertheless, at its March 1997 session, the Judicial Conference adopted a policy that attempts to balance a judge's essential need to have an available courtroom with the economic reality of limited resources. The Conference policy provides one courtroom for each active district judges but sets forth a non-exclusive list of factors for circuit councils to consider with regard to the courtroom needs for senior judges.

Five-year plan: The Judicial Conference continues to review and update its prioritization of projects using a standard weighted scoring method. GSA in-put and analysis are an important part of this process. "Many lessons have been learned as the Congress, GSA, and the Judiciary have worked together over the past several years to build high quality, functional court facilities that will last for several decades," Judge Stahl said in his testimony. "The Judiciary hopes the Committee will accept the actions taken by the Judicial Conference as evidence of the Judiciary's commitment to this cooperative working relationship."

The following construction projects will replace or augment court facilities, many over 50 years old.

The bankruptcy court in Brooklyn, New York, is housed above a drugstore in leased space that routinely leaks, where toilets flood and the heating and air conditioning systems fail. Meanwhile, delays in renovating the Post Office building that would house the court have caused decay and deterioration, increasing the cost of eventual restoration.

The lease in the Biloxi, Mississippi, court facility terminates in 2003. GSA does not have existing space available to meet the needs of the court and there are serious space, health, and safety problems in the current space.

The district courthouse in Denver, Colorado, may have to house judges, staff, and jury assembly functions in separate facilities. Juror pools already are meeting in courtrooms. Delay in funding construction may affect purchase of the planned site.

The district court in Eugene, Oregon, has been forced to move all the law clerks, the district court clerk's office, the bankruptcy court, and the probation office out of the courthouse. Security problems pose what the U.S. Marshals Service calls a "life threatening" situation.

The security problems in the district courthouse in Laredo, Texas, are described by the U.S. Marshals Service headquarters as among the worst in the nation. In addition, the court, built in 1906, lacks room for a new judge, or facilities to handle a skyrocketing caseload.

The current multi-tenant federal facility in Springfield, Massachusetts, has significant security problems. It lacks secure and separate prisoner corridors, courtroom holding cells, and prisoner elevators, with the result that dangerous prisoners move through public corridors with members of the public, witnesses and federal workers.

Any delays in building on the selected site in Jacksonville, Florida, will require an increase in the project budget. The city already has committed to moving City Hall to an adjacent site as part of a revitalization of the downtown area. (The construction already has been authorized by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee but requires Senate authorization and appropriations.)

The court in Wheeling, West Virginia, is out of space for additional judges, the clerk's and probation offices, attorney-client conference areas, witness rooms, and alternative dispute resolution suites. Security also is a serious problem.

The Little Rock, Arkansas, court will add several judges over the next 10 years, and there is no space for expansion in the existing building.

Currently there are only two courtrooms in the Cape Girardeau, Missouri, courthouse to accommodate six judges and a bankruptcy judge. An additional renovated courtroom is too small for criminal trials.

Only one courtroom in the Greeneville, Tennessee, courthouse has a jury room or facilities for the jury. There are no witness rooms, attorney conference rooms, or any spaces available for trial participants. The recently acquired annex for one judge can only be used for civil trials and has no security.

There is no room for expansion or growth of any court or court-related agency in Savannah, Georgia's current district courthouse, where caseload is expected to swell and additional judges are expected to be added. Prisoners are routinely taken through public corridors.

In the area's booming real estate market, the purchase of the proposed site of a new district courthouse annex in San Diego, California, could be jeopardized by delay. Without the annex, staff and court agencies will be forced to function in separate areas throughout San Diego county.

Building sites in suitable areas of San Jose, California, are disappearing fast, and delay will limit the ability to acquire a site in close proximity to the existing facility and the utilization of existing courtrooms.