Administrative Conference of the United States

Created in 1968, the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) was a federal independent agency and advisory committee chartered for the purpose of ensuring the fair and efficient administration of various federal agencies. The ACUS studied administrative processes and recommended improvements in the procedures by which federal agencies administered regulatory, benefit, and other government programs. It had no power to enact its recommendations into law, or to enforce them once they were enacted, but it did carry great weight in the formulation of procedures and policies of federal administrative agencies.

The ACUS consisted of heads of administrative agencies, private lawyers, university professors, various federal officials, and other experts in administrative law and government. These experts collectively conducted continuing studies of selected problems that existed in the procedures of federal administrative agencies. The specific charge of ACUS was to harness the experience and judgment of the Administrative Agency specialists to improve the fairness and effectiveness of administrative procedures and functions.

From 1968 to 1995, the ACUS issued approximately two hundred recommendations, the majority of which were at least partially implemented. In 1995, Congress terminated funding for the ACUS, and it ceased operation.

Further readings

"Administrative Conference of the United States" (Symposium). 1998. Arizona State Law Journal 30 (spring).

Funk, William. "R.I.P. A.C.U.S." ABA Network: Administrative & Regulatory Law News. Available online at <www.abanet.org/adminlaw/news/vol21no2/acus_rip.html> (accessed June 12, 2003).

"Recommendations of the Administrative Conference of the United States." ABA Administrative Procedure Database. Available online at <www.law.fsu.edu/library/admin/acus/acustoc.html> (accessed June 12, 2003).

Cross-references

Administrative Agency; Administrative Law and Procedure.