Guide to Federal Records

Records of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts


(Record Group 116)
1899-1979

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 116.1 Administrative History
  • 116.2 Records of Committees of the Judicial Conference of the United States 1940-60 (bulk 1940-56)
  • 116.3 Textual Records (General) 1899-1979
  • 116.4 Motion Pictures (General) 1976
  • 116.5 Machine-Readable Records (General) 1973-79

116.1 Administrative History

Established: Effective November 6, 1939, under the supervision of the conference of senior circuit court judges, by an act of August 7, 1939 (53 Stat. 1223).

Predecessor Agencies: Department of Justice (1870-1939)

Transfers: To Judicial Conference of the United States by the Judiciary and Judicial Procedures Act (62 Stat. 902), June 25, 1948.

Functions: Administers the nonjudicial, clerical business of the United States courts.

Finding Aids: Preliminary inventory in National Archives microfiche edition of preliminary inventories.

Related Records:
Record copies of publications of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
Records of the District Courts of the United States, RG 21.
General Records of the Department of Justice, RG 60.
Records of the Solicitor of the Treasury, RG 206.

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116.2 Records of Committees of the Judicial Conference of the
United States 1940-60 (bulk 1940-56)

History: Judicial Conference of the United States, headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, established as the supervising agency for the federal court system by the Judiciary and Judicial Procedures Act (62 Stat. 902), June 25, 1948, superseding the annual conference of senior circuit court judges established by the Judicial Code Amendments Act (42 Stat. 838), September 14, 1922.

Textual Records: Records of the Pretrial Committee, 1940-55, and of its Brooklyn Project, 1959. Records of the Committee on Antitrust and Administrative Trial Procedure, 1949-60 (bulk 1949- 56). Records of the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, 1941-45 (bulk 1941- 43). Reports of the Judicial Conference Committees, 1943-58.

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116.3 Textual Records (General)
1899-1979

Administrative records, 1899-1964. General judicial district administrative files, 1899-1940; appellate judicial district administrative files, 1903-40; and records relating to site and facilities, 1940-58 (all of these records relate to the establishment of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts).

Records of Director Harry P. Chandler, 1939-58, including records relating to meetings and committees, memorandums to the Chief Justice, correspondence, records relating to budget submissions, and speeches. Records of Director Warren Olney III, 1958-67, including general subject files, correspondence, committee files, and speeches. Records of Assistant Directors Elmore Whitehurst and William Ellis, 1939-60, including committee correspondence, conference files, and general correspondence. Records of Deputy Director Will Shafroth, 1960-64.

Records of Division of Procedural Studies and Statistics, 1939-68. Records of Division of Probation, 1929-66. Records of Division of Bankruptcy, 1934-63.

Records of the Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure, including files of the Chairman, 1935-55; files of the Secretary, Edgar Tolman, 1935-55; proceedings of meetings, 1936-46; mimeographed reports, 1940-55; preliminary drafts of the rules, 1937-44; and correspondence, 1947-51. Notes relating to Government Printing Office printing of the Rules of Civil Procedure, 1937-52. Rules of Civil Procedure of the Federal Courts of the United States, 1935-50.

Rules of Criminal Procedure of the Federal Courts of the United States, 1940-46. Records of the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules and Procedures including correspondence, 1941-44; transmittal letters, 1941-43; and preliminary drafts of rules, 1937-44. Records of the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules, 1960-65.

Records of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, 1938-42. Records of the Committee on Admiralty Rules, 1953-63. Records of the Coordinating Committee for Multiple Litigation, 1962. Records of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, 1960-68. Records of Seminars Studying Protracted Cases, 1957-61.

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116.4 Motion Pictures (General)
1976

Equal Justice Under the Law series, with accompanying scripts, 1976 (4 reels).

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116.5 Machine-Readable Records (General)
1973-79

Civil, criminal, and bankruptcy data sets, 1973-79.


Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.

Ordering information

This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.


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