The U.S. district courts are the trial courts of the federal court system. There are 94 federal judicial districts—at least one for each state, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories—organized into 12 regional circuits. Each circuit has a court of appeals whose jurisdiction includes appeals from the district and bankruptcy courts located within the circuit, as well as appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies.The Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) within the judicial branch carries out a wide range of services for the federal judiciary, including capital-planning. The Judicial Conference of the United States (Judicial Conference) supervises the Director of the AOUSC and is the principal policy-making body for the federal judiciary and recommends national policies and legislation on all aspects of federal judicial administration. Federal courthouses can house a variety of appellate, district, senior district, magistrate, or bankruptcy judges as well as other court and non- court-related tenants. Prior to 2008, the judiciary did not require judges to share courtrooms, except in situations where the courthouse was out of space. courtroom-sharing (1) between senior district judges and (2) between magistrate judges. In 2011, the Judicial Conference adopted a courtroom- sharing policy for bankruptcy judges. These policies apply to new courthouse projects and existing courthouses when there is a new space need that cannot otherwise be accommodated. (See app. II for more information on judiciary’s courtroom-sharing policies.) The judiciary has also been studying the feasibility of an appropriate sharing policy for district judges in courthouses with more than 10 district judges, but has not yet finalized a policy and could not tell us when or if it expected to do so. Our 2010 report examined judiciary data on courtroom usage and found that there are additional opportunities for significant cost savings through courtroom-sharing, particularly for district judges. Appellate judges, however, have always shared courtrooms because they sit in panels of three or more. operational deficiencies in the existing courthouse, and (4) the current number of judges who do not have a permanent courtroom and chambers in the existing courthouse, plus the projected number of judges over the 10-year planning period who will not have a courtroom and chambers. From fiscal years 2005 to 2006, as a cost containment initiative, the judiciary imposed a moratorium on new courthouse construction while it reevaluated its capital-planning process. In 2008, the judiciary began using a new capital-planning process, called the Asset Management Planning (AMP) process, to assess, identify, and rank its space needs. According to judiciary officials, the AMP process addresses concerns about growing costs and incorporates best practices related to capital-planning. The AMP process includes several steps beginning with the completion of a district-wide Long Range Facilities Plan (LFRP). Collectively, the AMP process: documents courthouse space conditions and district space needs develops housing strategies that can include construction of a new based, in part, on the judiciary’s AMP process rules and building standards as specified in the U.S. Courts Design Guide; identifies space needs on a building-specific and citywide basis; and courthouse or annex and renovation projects. The AMP process results in an urgency score for construction or renovation based primarily on the current and future need for courtrooms and chambers and the condition assessment of the existing building (see app. III). The AMP process establishes criteria for qualifying for new courthouse construction, such as requiring that an existing courthouse have a chamber for each judge and needing two or more additional courtrooms. Judiciary officials told us that unlike the previous capital- planning process, a new courthouse could no longer be justified as part of the AMP process based solely on security or operational deficiencies. The judiciary has chosen to improve security within existing courthouse rather than replace them with new courthouses. After the Judicial Conference identifies courthouse projects, GSA conducts feasibility studies to assess alternatives for meeting the judiciary’s space needs and recommends a preferred alternative. The judiciary adopts the GSA recommended alternative, which may differ from the alternative recommended in the AMP process. For example, a project may not qualify for new courthouse construction under the AMP process, but GSA may determine through its feasibility study that new construction is the most cost-efficient, viable solution. See figure 1 for the judiciary’s current process for selecting and approving new courthouse construction projects. Part of the judiciary’s capital-planning—both the previous and current processes—has been to periodically communicate its facility decisions for construction projects via a document known as the Five Year Courthouse Project Plan (5-year plan). The 5-year plan is a one-page document that lists proposed projects by fiscal year and the estimated costs for various project phases (site acquisition, design, or construction) as approved by the Judicial Conference. The judiciary uses the plan to communicate its most urgent projects to Congress and other decision makers. Previously, we found that judiciary’s 5-year plans did not reflect the most urgently needed projects and lacked key information about the projects selected— such as a justification for the project’s priority level. GSA reviews its courthouse studies with the judiciary and forwards approved projects for new courthouses to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. If approved by OMB, GSA then submits requests to congressional authorizing committees for new courthouse projects in the form of detailed descriptions, or prospectuses, authorizing acquisition of a building site, building design, and construction. Following congressional authorization and the appropriation of funds for the projects, GSA manages the site, design, and construction phases. After occupancy, GSA charges federal tenants, such as the judiciary, rent for the space they occupy and for their respective share of common areas, including mechanical spaces. In fiscal year 2012, the judiciary’s rent payments to GSA totaled over $1 billion for approximately 42.4 million square feet of space in 779 buildings that include 446 federal courthouses. Before Congress makes an appropriation for a proposed project, GSA submits detailed project descriptions called prospectuses to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for authorization by these committees when the proposed construction, alteration, or acquisition of a building to be used as a public building exceeds a specified dollar threshold. For purposes of this report, we refer to these committees as “authorizing committees” when discussing the submission of the prospectuses and providing additional information relating to prospectuses to these committees. Furthermore, for purposes of this report, we refer to approval of these projects by these committees as “congressional authorization.” See 40 U.S.C. § 3307. evaluating all of the courthouses until October 2015 and would take another 18 to 24 months to complete the LRFPs, dependent upon the availability of funding. The AMP process, which the judiciary has applied to about 67 percent of its courthouses, represents progress by the judiciary in aligning its capital- planning process with leading capital-planning practices, but the document the judiciary uses to request courthouse construction projects lacks transparency and key information. We have previously reported that prudent capital-planning can help agencies maximize limited resources and keep capital acquisitions on budget, on schedule, and aligned with mission needs and goals. Figure 2 summarizes leading capital-planning practices and our assessment of the extent to which the AMP process aligns with those practices. For our analysis of judiciary’s planning practices, we focused on the judiciary’s implementation of the concepts that underlie the planning phase of OMB and GAO guidance, including linking capital-planning to an agency’s strategic goals and objectives and developing a long-term capital investment plan. Several aspects of the AMP process partially align with leading capital- planning practices, but none fully align and the 5-year plan only aligns to a limited extent—which we discuss further in this report. Here are some examples to illustrate partial alignment: Strategic Linkage. The judiciary’s strategic plan links to its management of capital assets, but the AMP process does not link to the strategic plan. For example, the AMP process documents we reviewed did not explain how the process helps achieve the goals and objectives in the judiciary’s current strategic plan, which are organized around seven issues: providing justice; the effective and efficient management of public resources; the judiciary workforce of the future; harnessing technology’s potential; enhancing access to the judicial process; the judiciary’s relationships with the other branches of government; and enhancing public understanding, trust, and confidence. However, after our review, a judiciary official told us that the Long Range Facility Plans (LRFP) currently under development would include a reference to the strategic plan. Needs Assessment and Gap Identification. The AMP process has improved judiciary’s needs assessment and gap analysis by establishing a comprehensive, nationwide 328-factor study for every courthouse, whereas the previous process was not as comprehensive and only assessed courthouses when requested by a local judicial district. The AMP process evaluates the degree to which existing facilities support court operations by applying space functionality standards, security, and building condition factors. However, cost estimates supporting the judiciary’s needs are incomplete, as discussed later in this report. Alternatives Evaluation. The AMP process establishes a review and approval framework criteria for justifying new construction, whereas none existed in the previous process. The AMP process evaluates some alternatives, such as renovating existing courthouses to meet needs, but it is unclear if the judiciary considered other options, such as courtroom-sharing in the existing courthouse. Assessing a wide- range of alternatives would help the judiciary ensure that it evaluated other, less costly, approaches to bridging the performance gap before recommending new construction. Review and Approval Framework with Established Criteria for Selecting Capital Investments. The AMP process includes a review and approval framework with criteria, such as courthouses needing two or more courtrooms to qualify for a new courthouse project.