The Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOC) developed the Judiciary’s Long Range Facility Planning process to communicate the courts’ needs for space and facilities to GSA and the Congress in a way that results in the best value to the taxpayer. This accomplishment earned the AOC the 1998 GSA Achievement Award for Real Property Innovation in the best practice category.
For each of the 94 Judicial Districts, the AOC created statistical models that forecast caseload growth for the district courts in 5, 10, 20, and 30-year increments. A team of AOC employees visited each of the 94 judicial districts meeting with representatives from the Judiciary, GSA, and support agencies to project the growth in caseloads and associated support personnel and space at each location based on historical data.
The model projects the number of judicial officers and support personnel that will be required to handle the caseload in each district. Next the AOC and GSA look at capacities in existing judicial facilities with the future space needs, and develop proposals to meet these future space needs.
This long range-planning model has allowed the AOC to prioritize its projects based on the space requirements of the Judiciary. The Judiciary’s long range plans have resulted in an indispensable process that has enabled sound asset management decisions, has reduced project delivery time and cost, has provided incentives for improvement, and has maximized the performance of the portfolio.
For more information, contact Mr. William Lehman at (202) 273-1230 or via e-mail at william_lehman@as.uscourts.gov
