Citing maintenance and management crisis, federal judiciary seeks control over courthouses
A fence surrounds the Everett McKinley Dirksen federal courthouse in Chicago as people enter and exit the building in September. (Photo by Joshua Lott/The Washington Post)
Citing delinquent repairs and poor oversight, the federal judiciary last month asked to take over the maintenance and management of federal courthouses from the executive branch.
Currently, the General Services Administration manages the buildings, but North Carolina Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr., the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, said it isn’t keeping up with maintenance.
Conrad wrote in Feb. 24 letters to Vice President JD Vance and bipartisan congressional leaders proposing “to manage and maintain those buildings that are critical to the mission of the judicial branch.”
“This position is being sought now because the condition of many buildings housing the judiciary has reached a crisis point after decades of inadequate management and oversight,” Conrad wrote, including a draft resolution with his letters. “This has led to over $8 billion worth of delinquent infrastructure repairs that have created risks to safety, security and court operations.”
In a Feb. 24 press release, Conrad said the GSA “has long served as the judiciary’s landlord.”
But after more than a decade, buildings that house the judiciary have accumulated a growing backlog of critical repairs for “basic courthouse systems, such as roofs, elevators, lighting, doors and windows. Some emergency repairs, such as storm and water damage, can take years to complete,” Conrad said.
The Washington Post and the Hill also have coverage.
See also:
Judiciary says courthouses are crumbling nationwide, seeks control over properties
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