[District of Columbia Courts Appropriation Accounting]

GAO commented on the District of Columbia Courts' concerns regarding the proper accounting for certain payments made by the Courts for the Criminal Justice Act (CJA), the Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN), and the Guardianship programs, focusing on whether: (1) prior fiscal year payments made under a continuing resolution should be charged to the defender services appropriation; (2) federal payments and defender services appropriations were available to pay prior years CJA, CCAN, and Guardianship program obligations; and (3) the Courts would violate the Antideficiency Act by continuing to incur obligations for court-appointed attorneys if fiscal year 2000 appropriations are insufficient to pay all fiscal year 2000 obligations for these programs. GAO held that: (1) payments made under the continuing resolution may be properly charged to the defender services appropriation; (2) federal payments and defender services appropriations were available to pay for prior years obligations; and (3) the Courts would not violate the Antideficiency Act by incurring additional obligations after the defender services appropriation was exhausted.