I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 486 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide an Inspector General 

for the judicial branch, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2009 

Mr. SENSENBRENNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide an Inspector General for the judicial branch, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Judicial Transparency 

5 and Ethics Enhancement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR THE JUDICIAL BRANCH. 

7 (a) CREATION AND DUTIES.—Part III of title 28, 

8 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 60—INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR 

2 THE JUDICIAL BRANCH 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘1021. Establishment. 

‘‘1022. Appointment, term, and removal of Inspector General. 

‘‘1023. Duties. 

‘‘1024. Powers. 

‘‘1025. Reports. 

‘‘1026. Whistleblower protection. 

3 ‘‘§ 1021. Establishment 

4 ‘‘There is established for the judicial branch of the 

5 Government the Office of Inspector General for the Judi6 cial Branch (hereinafter in this chapter referred to as the 

7 ‘Office’). 

8 ‘‘§ 1022. Appointment, term, and removal of Inspector 

9 General 

10 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.—The head of the Office shall be 

11 the Inspector General, who shall be appointed by the Chief 

12 Justice of the United States after consultation with the 

13 majority and minority leaders of the Senate and the 

14 Speaker and minority leader of the House of Representa15 tives. 

16 ‘‘(b) TERM.—The Inspector General shall serve for 

17 a term of four years and may be reappointed by the Chief 

18 Justice of the United States for any number of additional 

19 terms. 

20 ‘‘(c) REMOVAL.—The Inspector General may be re21 moved from office by the Chief Justice of the United 


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1 States. The Chief Justice shall communicate the reasons 

2 for any such removal to both Houses of Congress. 

3 ‘‘§ 1023. Duties 

4 ‘‘With respect to the Judicial Branch, other than the 

5 United States Supreme Court, the Office shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) conduct investigations of alleged mis7 conduct in the Judicial Branch under chapter 16, 

8 that may require oversight or other action within the 

9 Judicial Branch or by Congress; 

10 ‘‘(2) conduct and supervise audits and inves11 tigations; 

12 ‘‘(3) prevent and detect waste, fraud, and 

13 abuse; and 

14 ‘‘(4) recommend changes in laws or regulations 

15 governing the Judicial Branch. 

16 ‘‘§ 1024. Powers 

17 ‘‘(a) POWERS.—In carrying out the duties of the Of18 fice, the Inspector General shall have the power— 

19 ‘‘(1) to make investigations and reports; 

20 ‘‘(2) to obtain information or assistance from 

21 any Federal, State, or local governmental agency, or 

22 other entity, or unit thereof, including all informa23 tion kept in the course of business by the Judicial 

24 Conference of the United States, the judicial coun25 cils of circuits, the Administrative Office of the 


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1 United States Courts, and the United States Sen2 tencing Commission; 

3 ‘‘(3) to require, by subpoena or otherwise, the 

4 attendance and testimony of such witnesses, and the 

5 production of such books, records, correspondence 

6 memoranda, papers, and documents, which sub7 poena, in the case of contumacy or refusal to obey, 

8 shall be enforceable by civil action; 

9 ‘‘(4) to administer to or take from any person 

10 an oath, affirmation, or affidavit; 

11 ‘‘(5) to employ such officers and employees, 

12 subject to the provisions of title 5, governing ap13 pointments in the competitive service, and the provi14 sions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 

15 of such title relating to classification and General 

16 Schedule pay rates; 

17 ‘‘(6) to obtain services as authorized by section 

18 3109 of title 5 at daily rates not to exceed the equiv19 alent rate prescribed for grade GS–18 of the Gen20 eral Schedule by section 5332 of title 5, United 

21 States Code; and 

22 ‘‘(7) to the extent and in such amounts as may 

23 be provided in advance by appropriations Acts, to 

24 enter into contracts and other arrangements for au25 dits, studies, analyses, and other services with public 


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1 agencies and with private persons, and to make such 

2 payments as may be necessary to carry out the du3 ties of the Office. 

4 ‘‘(b) CHAPTER 16 MATTERS.—The Inspector General 

5 shall not commence an investigation under section 

6 1023(1) until the denial of a petition for review by the 

7 judicial council of the circuit under section 352(c) of this 

8 title or upon referral or certification to the Judicial Con9 ference of the United States of any matter under section 

10 354(b) of this title. 

11 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—The Inspector General shall not 

12 have the authority— 

13 ‘‘(1) to investigate or review any matter that is 

14 directly related to the merits of a decision or proce15 dural ruling by any judge or court; or 

16 ‘‘(2) to punish or discipline any judge or court. 

17 ‘‘§ 1025. Reports 

18 ‘‘(a) WHEN TO BE MADE.—The Inspector General 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) make an annual report to the Chief Jus21 tice and to Congress relating to the activities of the 

22 Office; and 

23 ‘‘(2) make prompt reports to the Chief Justice 

24 and to Congress on matters that may require action 

25 by them. 


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1 ‘‘(b) SENSITIVE MATTER.—If a report contains sen2 sitive matter, the Inspector General may so indicate and 

3 Congress may receive that report in closed session. 

4 ‘‘(c) DUTY TO INFORM ATTORNEY GENERAL.—In 

5 carrying out the duties of the Office, the Inspector General 

6 shall report expeditiously to the Attorney General when7 ever the Inspector General has reasonable grounds to be8 lieve there has been a violation of Federal criminal law. 

9 ‘‘§ 1026. Whistleblower protection 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No officer, employee, agent, con11 tractor or subcontractor in the Judicial Branch may dis12 charge, demote, threaten, suspend, harass or in any other 

13 manner discriminate against an employee in the terms and 

14 conditions of employment because of any lawful act done 

15 by the employee to provide information, cause information 

16 to be provided, or otherwise assist in an investigation re17 garding any possible violation of Federal law or regulation, 

18 or misconduct, by a judge or any other employee in the 

19 Judicial Branch, which may assist the Inspector General 

20 in the performance of duties under this chapter. 

21 ‘‘(b) CIVIL ACTION.—An employee injured by a viola22 tion of subsection (a) may, in a civil action, obtain appro23 priate relief.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

2 for part III of title 28, United States Code, is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘60. Inspector General for the Judicial Branch.’’. 

Æ 


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