§19. Supervision of public buildings and grounds in District of Columbia not otherwise provided for by law; eviction of trespassers

The Administrator of General Services shall have charge of the public buildings and grounds in the District of Columbia, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the President, except those buildings and grounds which are otherwise provided for by law; and when it shall be made to appear to the said Administrator of General Services, or to the officer under his direction having immediate charge of said public buildings and grounds, that any person or persons is in unlawful occupation of any portion of said public lands in the District of Columbia, it shall be the duty of said officer in charge thereof to notify the marshal of the District of Columbia in writing of such unlawful occupation, and the said marshal shall thereupon cause the said trespasser or trespassers to be ejected from said lands, and shall restore possession of the same to the officer charged by law with the custody thereof.

(R.S. 1797; Apr. 28, 1902, ch. 594, 32 Stat. 152 ; Feb. 26, 1925, ch. 339, §3, 43 Stat. 983 ; Ex. Ord. No. 6166, §2, eff. June 10, 1933; Mar. 2, 1934, ch. 38, 48 Stat. 389 ; 1939 Reorg. Plan No. I, §303, eff. July 1, 1939, 4 F.R. 2729, 53 Stat. 1427; June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title I, §103(a), 63 Stat. 380 ; 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 18, §2, eff. July 1, 1950, 15 F.R. 3177, 64 Stat. 1270.)

Codification

R.S. §1797 derived from acts Aug. 4, 1854, ch. 242, §15, 10 Stat. 573 ; Mar. 2, 1867, ch. 167, §2, 14 Stat. 466 ; Feb. 14, 1874, ch. 22, 18 Stat. 14 .

R.S. §1797, as amended by act Apr. 28, 1902, gave the charge of public buildings and grounds in the District of Columbia to the Chief of Engineers. The former contained only the provision that the Chief of Engineers should have charge of public buildings and grounds and ended with the words, "otherwise provided for by law." The amendatory act of 1902 added the provisions beginning with the words, "and when it shall be made to appear," etc., to the end of the section.

Transfer of Functions

Functions with respect to the operation, maintenance, and custody of office buildings owned by Government and of office or parts thereof acquired by lease, including those post-office buildings which, as determined by Director of Bureau of the Budget, are not used predominantly for post-office purposes, with certain exceptions, transferred from respective agencies in which theretofore vested to Administrator of General Services by section 2 of Reorg. Plan No. 18 of 1950, set out as a note under section 490 of this title. For delegation of those transferred functions to other personnel of General Services Administration, or to heads and personnel of other agencies, and for transfer of personnel, property, records, and funds, see sections 3 and 4 of that Plan.

Functions of Federal Works Agency and of all agencies thereof, together with functions of Federal Works Administrator transferred to Administrator of General Services by section 103(a) of act June 30, 1949, which is classified to section 753(a) of this title. Federal Works Agency and office of Federal Works Administrator abolished by section 103(b) of that act.

Functions of Director of National Park Service relating to public buildings transferred to Federal Works Administrator by section 303(b) of Reorg. Plan No. I of 1939, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Sections 301 and 303 of that Plan also transferred Public Buildings Branch of Procurement Division in Treasury Department, to Public Buildings Administration, at head of which was Commissioner of Public Buildings who acted under direction and supervision of Federal Works Administrator.

Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of National Capital abolished and functions thereof transferred to Office of National Parks, Buildings and Reservations of Department of the Interior by Ex. Ord. No. 6166, set out as a note under section 901 of Title 5. Name of Office of National Parks, Buildings and Reservations changed to "National Park Service" by act Mar. 2, 1934.

Office of Public Buildings and Grounds under Chief of Engineers abolished and functions of Chief of Engineers and of Secretary of War with respect thereto transferred to Director of Public Buildings and Public Parks of National Capital by act Feb. 26, 1925.

Effective Date of Transfer of Functions

Transfer of functions by act June 30, 1949, effective July 1, 1949, see section 605 of act June 30, 1949, set out as an Effective Date note under section 471 of this title.

Transfer of Title of Wholly Owned Government Corporations' Buildings; Control and Allotment of Space

Act July 30, 1947, ch. 358, title III, §306, 61 Stat. 584 , provided in part: "Title to all office buildings at the seat of government, which are owned by wholly owned Government corporations, and all right, title, or interest of such corporations in the land upon which such buildings are located are hereby transferred to the United States, and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to discharge the indebtedness to the Treasury of any corporation holding such rights, title, or interests in any such land or building to the value thereof as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury as of the date of transfer: Provided, That in case of disagreement on the part of the head of the Corporation with respect to said value as determined, the Administrator of the Federal Works Agency shall make a final determination of the property value. Hereafter, such buildings shall be controlled and managed in the same manner as prescribed in the Act of March 1, 1919, as amended (former section 1 of this title)."

Cross References

Draping of public buildings in mourning, see section 286 of this title.

Improper use of streets, see section 66 of this title.

Lease of building space by wholly owned Government corporations, and rental, see section 129 of this title.

Operation of buildings and related activities by Administrator of General Services, general powers and duties, see section 490 of this title.

Use of buildings for public ceremonies, see section 31 of this title.

Vending stands for blind in Federal buildings, see section 107 et seq. of Title 20, Education.