In response to a proposal by the Conference of Metropolitan District Chief Judges that the Judicial Conference of the United States take steps to authorize a court administrator subordinate to the chief judge of the district court, the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration recommended at its March 1980 meeting that a study be conducted to consider some issues involved. A committee appointed to study the issues concluded that only by understanding how the 15 district courts involved are actually managed could the committee assess the probable impact of creating the position of an assistant to the circuit executive who would act as a court administrator. The study was conducted through field visits to the district courts. A comparative analysis of the management styles of the courts was based on general agreement as to the administrative tasks faced by these courts in the areas of personnel, space and facilities, equipment and supplies, budgeting and accounting, court security, and relations with the bar, the media, the community, and government agencies. Tasks within these general administrative areas were examined for each court. An examination of the management of the courts focused on the role of the chief judge within the administrative structures, with attention to the caseload relief for the chief judge, committees and liaison judges, the clerk of court, and administrative assistants to the chief judge. Appended are a list of court members interviewed in the field visits and a list of some committee and liaison judge arrangements used in the district courts studied.