Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§10703 Board of Directors

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 113— - STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTE › § 10703

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Creates a Board of Directors to run the Institute. The Board has 11 voting members who the President appoints with the Senate’s approval. It must include judges and nonjudges and try to represent different backgrounds. The Board is made up of six judges, one State court administrator, and four public members (no more than two of the public members can be from the same political party). The six judges and the State court administrator come from lists provided by the Conference of Chief Justices. The Conference must first give a list of at least 14 names for the first appointments and later give lists of three names when a spot opens. The President may reject a list and ask for another. The Conference should ask others for suggestions before sending lists. The President must make the first appointments within 90 days after October 1, 1985, and must fill later openings within 90 days after a term ends or a vacancy happens. The first Board members were the incorporators and they choose the State of incorporation. Board members usually serve three years and keep serving until a successor is ready. Five of the first appointees serve two years. If someone fills a partial term, they only serve the rest of that term but may be reappointed. After an initial term, a member may be reappointed no more than two times in a row. Members are not paid but are reimbursed for necessary expenses and are not federal employees. Each member gets one vote; a simple majority is a quorum and decides actions. The Board picks a chair from its voting members (the first chair serves three years, then the Board elects a chair each year). Seven members can remove a member for serious misconduct, neglect, inability, or crimes involving moral turpitude. The Board meets quarterly and holds special meetings when the chair calls them or seven members ask. Meetings must be open to the public under 5 U.S.C. 552b. The Board sets policy and programs, sets funding priorities and rules, hires the Executive Director (a nonvoting member), makes recommendations to other government bodies, suggests court topics for study, and awards grants and contracts under section 10705(a).

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §10703

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Institute shall be supervised by a Board of Directors, consisting of eleven voting members to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Board shall have both judicial and nonjudicial members, and shall, to the extent practicable, have a membership representing a variety of backgrounds and reflecting participation and interest in the administration of justice.
(2)The Board shall consist of—
(A)six judges, to be appointed in the manner provided in paragraph (3);
(B)one State court administrator, to be appointed in the manner provided in paragraph (3); and
(C)four members from the public sector, no more than two of whom shall be of the same political party, to be appointed in the manner provided in paragraph (4).
(3)The President shall appoint six judges and one State court administrator from a list of candidates submitted to the President by the Conference of Chief Justices. The Conference of Chief Justices shall submit a list of at least fourteen individuals, including judges and State court administrators, whom the Conference considers best qualified to serve on the Board. Whenever the term of any of the members of the Board described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) terminates and that member is not to be reappointed to a new term, and whenever a vacancy otherwise occurs among those members, the President shall appoint a new member from a list of three qualified individuals submitted to the President by the Conference of Chief Justices. The President may reject any list of individuals submitted by the Conference under this paragraph and, if such a list is so rejected, the President shall request the Conference to submit to him another list of qualified individuals. Prior to consulting with or submitting a list to the President, the Conference of Chief Justices shall obtain and consider the recommendations of all interested organizations and individuals concerned with the administration of justice and the objectives of this chapter.
(4)In addition to those members appointed under paragraph (3), the President shall appoint four members from the public sector to serve on the Board.
(5)The President shall make the initial appointments of members of the Board under this subsection within ninety days after October 1, 1985. In the case of any other appointment of a member, the President shall make the appointment not later than ninety days after the previous term expires or the vacancy occurs, as the case may be. The Conference of Chief Justices shall submit lists of candidates under paragraph (3) in a timely manner so that the appointments can be made within the time periods specified in this paragraph.
(6)The initial members of the Board of Directors shall be the incorporators of the Institute and shall determine the State in which the Institute is to be incorporated.
(b)(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), the term of each voting member of the Board shall be three years. Each member of the Board shall continue to serve until the successor to such member has been appointed and qualified.
(2)Five of the members first appointed by the President shall serve for a term of two years. Any member appointed to serve an unexpired term which has arisen by virtue of the death, disability, retirement, or resignation of a member shall be appointed only for such unexpired term, but shall be eligible for reappointment.
(3)The term of initial members shall commence from the date of the first meeting of the Board, and the term of each member other than an initial member shall commence from the date of termination of the preceding term.
(c)No member shall be reappointed to more than two consecutive terms immediately following such member’s initial term.
(d)Members of the Board shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.
(e)The members of the Board shall not, by reason of such membership, be considered officers or employees of the United States.
(f)Each member of the Board shall be entitled to one vote. A simple majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of business. The Board shall act upon the concurrence of a simple majority of the membership present and voting.
(g)The Board shall select from among the voting members of the Board a chairman, the first of whom shall serve for a term of three years. Thereafter, the Board shall annually elect a chairman from among its voting members.
(h)A member of the Board may be removed by a vote of seven members for malfeasance in office, persistent neglect of, or inability to discharge duties, or for any offense involving moral turpitude, but for no other cause.
(i)Regular meetings of the Board shall be held quarterly. Special meetings shall be held from time to time upon the call of the chairman, acting at his own discretion or pursuant to the petition of any seven members.
(j)All meetings of the Board, any executive committee of the Board (on any occasion on which that committee has been delegated the authority to act on behalf of the Board), and any council established in connection with this chapter, shall be open and subject to the requirements and provisions of section 552b of title 5 relating to open meetings.
(k)In its direction and supervision of the activities of the Institute, the Board shall—
(1)establish policies and develop such programs for the Institute that will further the achievement of its purpose and performance of its functions;
(2)establish policy and funding priorities and issue rules, regulations, guidelines, and instructions pursuant to such priorities;
(3)appoint and fix the duties of the Executive Director of the Institute, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Board and shall be a nonvoting ex officio member of the Board;
(4)present to other Government departments, agencies, and instrumentalities whose programs or activities relate to the administration of justice in the State judiciaries of the United States, the recommendations of the Institute for the improvement of such programs or activities;
(5)consider and recommend to both public and private agencies aspects of the operation of the State courts of the United States considered worthy of special study; and
(6)award grants and enter into cooperative agreements or contracts pursuant to section 10705(a) of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (a)(3) and (j), was in the original “this title”, meaning title II of Pub. L. 98–620, Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3336, known as the State Justice Institute Act of 1984, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of title II to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 10701 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

2004—Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 108–372 inserted “(on any occasion on which that committee has been delegated the authority to act on behalf of the Board)” after “executive committee of the Board”. 1992—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 102–572 substituted “Conference” for “conference” after “whom the” in second sentence.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1992 Amendment Pub. L. 102–572, title VIII, § 804, Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 4516, provided that: “The provisions of this title [amending this section and section 10705 and 10713 of this title] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 29, 1992].”

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 1985, see section 216 of Pub. L. 98–620, set out as a note under section 10701 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 10703

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73