Working Group Recommends Implementation of Audit

September 7, 2012

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Court Facilities Working Group Recommends Implementation of Pegasus Audit

Judicial Council to Consider 137 Recommendations October 26, 2012

Judge Patricia M. Lucas is vice-chair of the Court
Facilities Working Group.

SAN FRANCISCO—The audit ordered by the Judicial Council working group overseeing court facilities was accepted today and will now go the Judicial Council at its October meeting. The working group will recommend that all of the report’s 137 recommendations—most of which are focused on improving the program’s policies, processes, and procedures—be implemented.

The 437 page audit report on California’s court construction program includes 22 key findings and 26 key recommendations to strengthen the program. The final audit report also includes the Administrative Office of the Courts’ (AOC) response. The working group also recommended that the creation and maintenance of all the required elements in the report be handled in a unified manner and be accomplished by July 16, 2013.

“The report will be a tremendous tool as we move forward with our capital projects. The recommendations will serve as a template for our future success,” said Justice Brad R. Hill, chair of the Court Facilities Working Group and Administrative Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District.

“As Pegasus observed, the Office of Court Construction and Management had a highly compressed ramp up phase. Nevertheless, they did a remarkable job of successfully meeting their goals and objectives,” said Judge Patricia M. Lucas of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, vice-chair of the Court Facilities Working Group and who chairs the audit subcommittee. “Now we have clear direction to strengthen the program, improving its uniformity, transparency, and accountability.”

The report to the working group follows a Judicial Council decision on August 31 to restructure the Office of Court Construction and Management so that court construction and maintenance will be overseen by two different offices within the AOC.

The audit, conducted by Pegasus-Global Holdings, Inc., had three objectives: to assess the overall management of the AOC court construction program compared to industry standards and best practices; to assess outcomes of six sample projects at various stages of completion; and to assess organizational structure, staff qualifications, and quality of project consultants, including architects, engineers, and general contractors.

Pegasus-Global is an international consulting firm with extensive experience auditing project management and fiduciary processes in multi-billion-dollar capital construction and infrastructure projects. Its clients include state, federal, and local government entities in numerous jurisdictions in the United States, Canada, and Australia.