Courthouse Construction: Changes to Design Standards Will Result in Larger and More Costly Future Courthouses (2025)

Congress approved $2.1 billion for the construction of 15 federal courthouse projects during FYs 2016-2024. Federal agencies and other stakeholders use the U.S. Courts' Design Guide to build these courthouses. In 2021, the U.S. Courts made changes to this guide, citing, among other things, the need to provide greater security for court personnel.

We testified that these changes will significantly increase the size and cost of future courthouse projects. The changes will increase courthouses' size by 6% and construction costs by 12%.

We made 3 recommendationsin our related report, including that the U.S. Courts reassess these new standards.

A New Courthouse Built Using Previous Design Standards in Greenville, SC

What GAO Found

The judiciary issued a new U.S. Courts Design Guide (Design Guide) in 2021 that included many changes in the standards from the prior 2007 version. GAO determined that 16 of the changes could affect the size or cost of courthouse projects. (See table.) Judiciary officials cited four overarching reasons for making these changes: to incorporate existing policies, provide courts with flexibility to design spaces that meet their needs, contain costs, and meet security needs. To date, no courthouses funded through fiscal year 2024 have been designed under the 2021 Design Guide. According to judiciary officials, as of May 2025, the judiciary was planning five courthouse projects with the intention of using the 2021 Design Guide.

Selected Changes in the 2021 U.S. Courts Design Guide That Could Affect the Size or Cost of Courthouse Projects

Source: GAO analysis of judiciary data. | GAO-25-108406

GAO found that changes made in the 2021 Design Guide will significantly increase the size and cost of future courthouse projects. To reach this conclusion, GAO estimated the potential impacts of these changes for seven recently completed or future courthouses designed under the 2007 Design Guide. According to this analysis, changes in the 2021 Design Guide would increase the size of the courthouses by 6 percent and project costs by 12 percent on average. These hypothetical increases are due, in part, to increases in the amount of circulation within the judiciary's space. Increases in the judiciary's space result in larger courthouses overall, which GAO estimates will lead to more costly courthouses in the future, due to the need for additional construction materials and building components.

Further, GAO found that the judiciary did not fully collaborate with the General Services Administration (GSA) or involve the Federal Protective Service, which has courthouse security responsibilities. As a result, the judiciary missed an opportunity to address significant issues, such as those related to the size, cost, and security of courthouses. Specifically, the judiciary did not fully address GSA's concerns that the revised circulation requirements were based on a 2012 assessment of older courthouses that GAO had previously found to be oversized. Engaging with stakeholders and reassessing the need for increased circulation requirements in the 2021 Design Guide using relevant information will help the judiciary develop functional and cost-effective courthouses and could avoid millions of dollars in future costs.

Why GAO Did This Study

Courthouses play an important role in ensuring the proper functioning of the federal judicial system. For fiscal years 2016 through 2024, Congress appropriated $2.1 billion for the construction of 15 federal courthouse projects. According to the judiciary, this funding addressed long-standing needs for new courthouses.

The Design Guide aims to help GSA and other stakeholders build courthouses that are both functional and cost-effective. In 2021, the judiciary made changes to the Design Guide, citing the need to provide greater security for court personnel and flexibility for local courts involved in new courthouse projects.

This testimony discusses (1) the changes made in the 2021 Design Guide, and the judiciary's rationale for making these changes; (2) how these changes could affect the size and cost of future courthouse projects; and (3) how the judiciary collaborated with selected stakeholders in making these changes. It draws primarily from GAO's October 2024report on the judiciary's Design Guide.

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