§629 Federal Judicial Center Foundation

Summary

Creates a private nonprofit called the Federal Judicial Center Foundation, incorporated in the District of Columbia, to accept gifts of real and personal property and services to help the Federal Judicial Center. The Foundation must only take unconditional gifts, except it may accept gifts set aside for specific projects that the Center’s Board already approved. The Foundation cannot decide how gifts are used. For tax purposes, property given to the Foundation counts as a gift or bequest to the United States. Runs by a seven-member Board with a chairman. Three members (including the chairman) are named by the Chief Justice, two by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and two by the Speaker of the House. Board terms are 5 years, but the first members have staggered terms of 5, 3, or 2 years as set out by law. Members get no pay but can be reimbursed for actual necessary expenses if the Center’s Director approves. The Federal Judicial Center provides support and actually manages and spends the gifts under policies set by the Center’s Board. Money from gifts must be kept in a separate Treasury fund and spent by the Center’s Director. By October 1 each year, the Foundation’s Board must report to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees on gifts received in the prior 12 months, naming sources, cash amounts, and describing other gifts; the Center must report how the gifts were used in its annual report.