The Federal Judiciary: Reviews of Court Operations Should Adhere to
Oversight Standards (Letter Report, 06/17/96, GAO/GGD-96-114).

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Administrative
Office of the U.S. Courts' (AOUSC) assessment of local court operations,
focusing on whether AOUSC is promoting efficient administrative
practices within the judiciary.

GAO found that: (1) AOUSC issued uniform written standards for
nonfinancial program reviews in November 1995; (2) most of the reviews
requested for fiscal years 1992 through 1994 were not conducted in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards,
contained incomplete reports, were not distributed properly, and did not
indicate appropriate corrective actions; (3) AOUSC created a network of
35 program review officers that serve as focal points and advisors for
review and assessment activities within AOUSC; (4) the Office of Program
Assessment (OPA) has initiated a series of court visits to better
identify program units needing additional oversight; (5) OPA does not
require its program reviewers to be independent of the units they are
assessing or to prepare formal reports for each program review; (6)
AOUSC has created a program that achieves savings by systematically
identifying better, more efficient practices; and (7) it is too early to
determine whether the program is having an impact on operational costs.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  GGD-96-114
     TITLE:  The Federal Judiciary: Reviews of Court Operations Should 
             Adhere to Oversight Standards
      DATE:  06/17/96
   SUBJECT:  Federal courts
             Administrative costs
             Judicial reform
             Courts (law)
             Auditing standards
             Audit oversight
             Standards evaluation
             Auditing procedures
             Work measurement standards
             Decentralization
IDENTIFIER:  AOUSC Methods Analysis Program
             AOUSC Probation and Pretrial Services Automated Case 
             Tracking System