Judicial Conference and Its Committee on Court Administration

• NCJ Number: 101368
• Author(s): E B Hunter
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Training (Aid/Material)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This paper resulted from a presentation at the Conference of Metropolitan District Court Chief Judges.

Annotation

This paper traces the development of the administrative structure of the Federal courts from their inception to the present.

Abstract

For the first 132 years, each court administered its own affairs and minimal business in its own fashion. With the Judiciary Act of 1789, details began to appear. The Nation was divided into districts and circuits with a court in each. In 1891, an intermediate appellate court system came into being, and 20 years thereafter district courts were established as the basic Federal trial units. As workloads increased, so did administrative problems. These led to the establishment, in 1922, of the Judicial Conference of the United States as a principal policymaking body concerned with administration. In 1939, legislation was enacted which created the administrative Office of the U.S. Courts as an independent mechanism for coordinating court budgets and expenditures. Incremental increases in the size and workload of the Judicial Conference over the years eventually led to the formation of standing committees, similar to those in the Congress. Today there are 8 standing committees with subcommittees and 15 ad hoc committees. Over 236 judges serve on these committees. Some of the matters currently under study by these committees include computerization, grade and pay classifications for court personnel, and the use of sound-recording machines for court reporting.