There are 630 federal departments, agencies, and commissions.  Approximately 400 have regulatory power. Half could be eliminated and most Americans wouldn’t notice. The loss of liberty and freedom in the United States is proportional to the size and scope of the federal government. The larger the federal government, the fewer the rights of the 50 states, and the people.

~ Ed Haas

Like most federal agencies, the average American has never heard of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. With a discretionary budget request of $9.1 billion in 2024, an 8.0 percent increase over 2023, We the People should probably be paying closer attention.

Approximately 70 percent of the $9.1 billion budget in 2024 is for salaries and expenses. This equates to $6.4 billion for salaries, wages, compensation, and other expenses for approximately 32,000 employees within the federal judiciary.

What does the Administrative Office of the U.S. Court actually do for the American people? The “AO” as it’s commonly called, handles the administrative, legal, financial, management, and information technology services for the federal court system. The AO is the support hub of the judicial branch of government, handling virtually all activities other than the actual application of the law within the various court proceedings.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts was established by an act of Congress on November 6, 1939. Today the AO provides administrative, data, and technology support for the 209 courts within the federal court system. There are 1,770 federal judgeships across the system. The parent agency of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts is the Judicial Conference of the United States.

The AO implements and executes Judicial Conference policies, as well as applicable federal statutes and regulations. The office facilitates communications within the judiciary and with Congress, the executive branch, and the public on behalf of the judiciary. Administrative Office lawyers, public administrators, accountants, systems engineers, analysts, architects, statisticians, and other staff provide a wide variety of professional services to meet the needs of judges and more than 32,000 Judiciary employees working in more than 800 locations across the United States.

According to the 2021 Annual Report[1] of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, all responsibility for the AO is vested in the Director, who is the chief administrative officer for the federal courts. Under his or her direction, the agency carries out the following functions:

• Implements the policies of the Judicial Conference of the United States and supports its network of 25 committees (including advisory committees) by providing staff to plan meetings, develop agendas, prepare reports, and provide substantive analytical support to the development of issues, projects, and recommendations;
• Supports judicial officers, including active and senior appellate and district court judges, bankruptcy judges, and magistrate judges;
• Advises court administrators regarding procedural and administrative matters;
• Provides program leadership and support for circuit executives, clerks of court, staff attorneys, probation and pretrial services officers, federal defender organizations, panel attorneys, circuit librarians, conference attorneys/circuit mediators, bankruptcy administrators, and other court employees;
• Provides centralized core administrative functions such as payroll, personnel, and accounting services;
• Administers the Judiciary’s personnel systems and coordinates its fair employment practices program;
• Develops and executes the budget and provides guidance to courts for local budget execution;
• Defines resource requirements through forecasts of caseloads, work measurement analyses, assessment of program changes, and reviews of individual court requirements;
• Provides legislative counsel and services to the Judiciary; acts as liaison with the legislative and executive branches;
• Prepares manuals and a variety of other print and online publications;
• Collects and analyzes detailed statistics on the workload of the courts;
• Monitors and reviews the performance of programs and use of resources;
• Conducts education and training programs on administrative responsibilities;
• Audits Judiciary financial operations and provides guidance on management oversight and stewardship issues;
• Handles public affairs for the Judiciary, responding to inquiries from the media and the public;
• Develops new ways for handling court business and provides assistance to court employees to help them implement programs and improve operations;
• Develops and supports automated systems and technologies used throughout the courts;
• Coordinates with the General Services Administration on the construction and management of the Judiciary’s space and facilities; and
• Monitors the U.S. Marshals Service’s implementation of the Judicial Facilities Security Program, including court security officers, and executes security policy for the Judiciary.

Federal judiciary caseloads statistics for 2023 show an overall decrease in criminal and civil filings. Combined filings in the U.S. district courts for civil cases and criminal defendants decreased by 27,043 (down 7 percent) to 353,170. Civil case filings in the U.S. district courts dropped 8 percent (down 24,882 cases) to 284,220. Criminal defendant filings (including transfers) in the U.S. district courts decreased 3 percent (down 2,161 defendants) to 68,950.

Our national debt is $34.5 trillion. We must cut costs. Unpopular and difficult decisions must be made. (7 of 630 in this series)

~ Ed Haas

Types of Civil Cases

Personal injury/product liability filings

Health care/pharmaceutical cases

Contract actions

Prisoner petitions

Real property actions

Intellectual property rights filings

Civil rights filings 

Civil bankruptcy cases

Personal injury cases

Civil cases involving immigration 

Personal property damage cases

Cases involving securities, commodities, and exchanges

Cases related to labor laws

Civil cases involving forfeiture and penalty

Types of Criminal Cases

Drugs charges

Firearms and explosives

Property offenses

Sex crimes

Violence offenses

General offenses

Judicial system offenses

Keeping the federal judiciary system running is an enormous task made even more taxing with each new federal law passed. For example, federal hate crime laws often lead to the federal government prosecuting cases which used to be handled exclusively by the states. Staunch constitutional conservatives know the federal overreach granted by federal hate crime laws is the true motivation behind such wrongheaded laws. What difference does it make if a crime was perpetrated because of hatred? Would you rather a friend or family member be murdered by someone who loved them, was indifferent to them, or hated them? If someone murders me, I sure hope they hated me!  Anyhow, back to the story.

The Administrative Office for U.S. Courts serves a purpose. It’s not a federal agency I think should be eliminated. However, I am certain there is waste in the payroll through duplication, and the lack of maximum effort by employees and subcontractors. Also, the lack of sufficient cross-training wherever possible raises costs of any operation. “Government jobs” have a reputation as “good jobs” because of the benefits, to include generous retirement. It’s expensive for the U.S. taxpayer to employ more than 2 million civilians to keep the federal government running. Just think about that number! That’s 40,000 federal employees per state if you divide the civilian federal payroll by the 50 states!

With a fast-approaching national debt of $35 trillion, the federal government must reduce its size and scope. Tough choices will have to be made. Austerity measures must be enacted. There are four choices: raise taxes to fund spending, raise taxes while cutting spending, lower taxes and lower spending, and keep taxes the same and lower government spending.

Keeping taxes the same for the time being while lower government spending is the best option at this time.

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[1] Administrative Office for U.S. Courts, 2021 Annual Report, https://www.uscourts.gov/statistics-reports/profile-administrative-office-us-courts-annual-report-2021, Accessed March 2, 2024

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