Skip to main content

L.A. Federal Courthouse Project: Current Proposal Addresses Space Needs, but Some Security and Operational Concerns Would Remain

GAO-05-158 Published: Dec 20, 2004. Publicly Released: Dec 20, 2004.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

Since the early 1990s, the General Services Administration (GSA) and the federal judiciary have been carrying out a multibillion dollar courthouse construction initiative to address the judiciary's growing space needs. To plan for and make funding decisions on projects, Congress, the Office of Management and Budget, and GSA have relied on a rolling 5-year plan prepared annually by the judiciary that prioritizes new courthouse projects based on an urgency score. The urgency score is based on the year a courthouse runs out of space, the number of judges without courtrooms, security concerns, and operational inefficiencies. In recent years, the L.A. courthouse had the highest urgency score in the judiciary's 5-year plan. At a cost of approximately $400 million, the new courthouse is expected to be one of the most expensive projects in the federal government's courthouse construction program to date. In light of the project's significance, GAO was asked: (1) To what extent does GSA's current L.A. courthouse project proposal address the underlying conditions that led to Los Angeles's high urgency score and (2) what construction and other costs, if any, may be required to meet judiciary and related needs in Los Angeles? The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and GSA provided technical comments on this report.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Construction costsCost analysisFacility constructionFederal courtsFederal facilitiesFederal property managementGovernment facility constructionWalkwaysCost estimatesCourthouses