Resources for Federal Agencies

ACUS offers resources that federal agency officials may find helpful designed to develop and issue rules, conduct adjudications, and administer programs. ACUS can also work with agencies to analyze current practices, suggest reforms, and brief staff on administrative law topics. 

For assistance, agencies should contact Jeremy Graboyes (jgraboyes@acus.gov).

Publications

• Assembly Recommendations. ACUS issues about a dozen recommendations each year to agencies, Congress, the President, and the Judicial Conference to enhance efficiency and fairness in the administrative state. A report by an administrative law expert or ACUS staff supports each recommendation.

• Information Interchange Bulletins. These one-page documents offer agency attorneys a starting point to begin research on specific administrative procedure topics. They identify the blackletter law and provide additional resources for further research, including relevant ACUS recommendations and reports.

• Reference Guides. ACUS produces references guides including Handbooks, Sourcebooks, Statements of Principles, and reports on administrative law topics, such as the Sourcebook of United States Executive Agencies and the online Federal Administrative Procedure Sourcebook.

• Model Rules. ACUS has developed Model Adjudication Rules and Model Rules for Implementation of the Equal Access to Justice Act.

Meetings and Events

• Roundtables. ACUS convenes several bodies that meet periodically to discuss topics of interest governmentwide, including the Interagency Roundtable, Council of Independent Regulatory Agencies, Council on Federal Agency Adjudication, Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Group, and Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence in Federal Agencies.

• Working Groups. ACUS convenes working groups to discuss common challenges and develop materials that agencies can easily adapt for their own needs, such as developing Model Adjudication Rules or guidance on compiling administrative records.

• Forums. ACUS sponsors public forums to discuss important issues of administrative procedure. Past forums have focused on Nationwide Injunctions and Federal Regulatory Programs, Mass and Fraudulent Comments, Federal Administrative Adjudication, and Regulatory Capture.

• Trainings. ACUS can conduct or facilitate training sessions for agency staff on a variety of administrative law and procedure topics, including the best practices recommended by the ACUS Assembly.