§462 Court accommodations

Summary

Courts below the Supreme Court may meet only where the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts provides space or where space is given free to the courts. The Director will only set up chambers and courtrooms where the law allows regular court sessions and only after the circuit’s judicial council says it is needed. Circuit judges can get chambers elsewhere if their judicial council approves. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Court of Federal Claims must have permanent offices in Washington, D.C., but they can hold sessions elsewhere using space the Director provides. The Director also provides space for probation officers, pretrial service officers, and Federal Public Defender Organizations when a circuit’s judicial council approves. If the Director asks, the Administrator of General Services must supply requested space and may close space the Director recommends, but closures need approval from the Judicial Conference of the United States.