INSIDE THIS ISSUE New GSA Head and Judiciary Representatives Talk About Needs of Courthouse Program Senate Appropriations Committee Leaves Judiciary Looking To Basic Services Judicial Improvement Bill Would Help Judiciary Retain, Recruit Employees Senate Invokes Return Rule Before Leaving for Recess Legislation Waits for Congress to Return An Interview with the President of the Conference of Chief Justices Judicial Milestones Judicial Boxscore

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New GSA Head and Judiciary Representatives Talk About Needs of Courthouse Program

The General Services Administration's top administrator, Stephen A. Perry, visited the Administrative Office last month to discuss a topic of mutual concern: federal courthouses. Perry, who was confirmed in May by Congress to lead GSA, was accompanied by his chief of staff, Brian A. Jackson. Representing the Judicial Conference was Judge Jane R. Roth (3rd Cir.), chair of the Judicial Conference Committee on Security and Facilities, with Administrative Office Director Leonidas Ralph Mecham, and Ross Eisenman, AO Assistant Director of the Office of Facilities and Security. The overall courthouse construction program was discussed at the meeting, with particular emphasis on the Judiciary's unique client relationship with GSA, the Judiciary's position on courtroom sharing, courthouse funding, and the design of courthouses including the role of architects in the process. Seated left to right in the photo are Administrative Office Director Leonidas Ralph Mecham; Judge Jane R. Roth (3rd Cir.), GSA Administrator Stephen A. Perry, GSA Chief of Staff Brian A. Jackson, and Ross Eisenman, AO Assistant Director of the Office of Facilities and Security. For more on the courthouse construction program and its funding see below.

Appropriations Committees Act on Courthouse Funding

The President's fiscal year 2002 budget included money for 12 courthouse construction projects. Now, favorable appropriations committee action in both the House and the Senate may put the Judiciary's courthouse construction program back on track.

Both the Senate and the House appropriations committees have approved funding for courthouse construction in their respective Treasury, Postal Service and General Government appropriations bills for fiscal year 2002. The full House passed its version of the bill, but the Senate most likely will vote on the bill in September, after the August recess.

The House Appropriations Committee, which took action first, provided $240 million in funding for 15 courthouse projects. It funded the top nine of the Judiciary's prioritized project list for FY 2002, skipping over the courthouse project in Salt Lake City, Utah, which was not ready for construction money as planned. The committee also included additional design money for the Orlando, Florida, courthouse, which was number 19 on the list.

Four more projects will receive in FY 2002 the $276.4 million provided as an advance appropriation in the FY 2001 bill. Furthermore, these projects received additional funding in the FY 2002 bill beyond the $276.4 million approved last year because their costs had increased due to the year's delay. Finally, language in the committee report addressed the space emergency in the new courthouse under construction in Brooklyn, New York, directing the General Services Administration (GSA) to begin design of eight additional courtrooms and chambers with a small amount of money included in the bill.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $298 million for 20 courthouse construction projects. The Senate committee repeated the House actions of providing the additional funding needed for the four projects forward-funded from last year and a small amount of funding to design the additional courtrooms and chambers in the Brooklyn courthouse. The Senate committee did not include the additional design money for Orlando that was in the House bill, but it did fund 14 projects on the Judiciary's prioritized list for FY 2002, adding five to those funded in the House. One of the five was the Salt Lake City project, skipped by the House, but which received $5 million in additional site money in the Senate bill. The Senate committee also provided an additional $3 million to correct a shortfall in last year's funding of the Gulfport, Mississippi, project.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, in its report, was critical of the Judiciary on the issue of courtroom sharing. Although the Committee noted their awareness of conflicting information regarding the issue of courtroom sharing, they urged the AO to provide the Committee with "persuasive courtroom use data and analysis, along with its views, to justify the number of courtrooms being requested in future courtroom construction requests." The Judicial Conference policy on courtroom sharing provides for one courtroom for each active district court judge. With regard to senior judges and to visiting judges, Conference policy sets forth a non-exclusive list of factors for circuit judicial councils to consider when determining the number of courtrooms needed at a facility.

Also in its report, the Appropriations Committee encouraged the General Services Administration, the White House, and the Judiciary "to continue to work cooperatively to develop a single comprehensive plan upon which courthouse construction will be based." At the request of Congress and with GSA participation, the Judiciary already has prioritized its courthouse construction projects using a standard weighted scoring method. The Judiciary also works closely with Congress to continually update and revise the U.S. Courts Design Guide, to result in cost savings for new projects.

Repair and Alterations

Both the House and Senate appropriations committees funded all the repair and alteration projects included in the President's budget. The Senate committee added funding for alterations at the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, courthouse and for renovations at the Montgomery, Alabama, courthouse, both of which received insufficient funding last year.

Authorization Needed in Senate

Courthouse projects must have an authorization as well as an appropriation of money. The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure authorized all the courthouse projects proposed for FY 2002 that GSA said were ready, plus the additional money for the forward-funded projects from last year. It also authorized the full $26 million needed to design and build the additional eight courtrooms and chambers in the Brooklyn project. The House committee did not authorize the additional design money for Orlando and the additional site money for Salt Lake City, which was included in the appropriations bills after the committee met. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is expected to act on authorizations in September, following the August recess.