AO 78
Application for Judicial Branch Federal Employment
AO 78, Application for Judicial Branch Federal Employment, is a job application form from the U.S. Courts listed under Human Resources Forms. The form is headed Federal Judicial Branch Application for Employment. The current version is dated 5/24, and the U.S. Courts page lists it as effective on May 1, 2024.
The U.S. Courts page says some federal courts use this application when seeking applicants for open positions within those specific courts or Judicial Branch agencies. The 5-page form asks for contact details, citizenship and federal service, background questions, education, skills, questions for applicants for legal positions, work experience for the last 10 years, optional background questions that are answered only if the vacancy announcement requires them, and a signed applicant certification. It is a personnel form, not a court filing.
This page explains the form in plain words and is not legal advice. You can fill it out free in your browser on this page and download the result without an account.
Name, phone, present address, email, place of birth (which the form says is required for background investigation), other names used for employment, and date of birth, which the form says to complete only for law enforcement positions.
U.S. citizenship, federal service and payments, relatives who are Judges, Officers or employees of the United States Courts, military service, job separations in the last 5 years, and any delinquent Federal debt, with details in Section 18.
High school diploma or G.E.D., colleges and law schools with dates, credit hours, degree and grade point average, other schools or training, and relevant skills, honors, awards or accomplishments.
Bar admission, membership and law school standing for legal positions, then a Remarks space for continuing answers by item number.
Starting with the present position and working back 10 years, including any military service: dates, hours, title, salary, pay plan and grade if in federal service, supervisor, employer, reason for leaving and a description of work.
Optional questions on convictions and military court-martial in the last 7 years and pending charges, answered only if required by the vacancy announcement, a Remarks space, and the signed and dated applicant certification.
The U.S. Courts page says to search for a judiciary job and view the specific posting for submission instructions.
Fill in the contact, general, background, education and skills items, and item 17 for legal positions. The form says to continue under Remarks, listing the item number, if more space is needed.
The form says to start with the present position and work back 10 years, include any military service, and use an additional page if necessary.
The form says to answer questions 19, 20 and 21 only if required by the vacancy announcement, and lists what the answers include and omit.
The applicant signs and dates the certification that the information is true, correct, complete and made in good faith.
You get the real form, filled in a browser tab, with nothing standing between you and the finished PDF.
The form prints no address. The U.S. Courts page says to search for a judiciary job and view the specific posting for submission instructions.
The form does not print a fee.
The form says answers include convictions from a plea of nolo contendere (no contest) but omit traffic fines of $300 or less, violations before the 16th birthday, certain juvenile or Youth Offender matters, convictions set aside under the Federal Youth Corrections Act or similar state law, and expunged convictions.
The form says false or fraudulent information on or attached to the application may be grounds for not hiring or for firing after work begins, may be punishable by fine or imprisonment, and that any information given may be investigated.
The U.S. Courts page offers AO 78 as a Word document and as a PDF.
The applicant fills out and signs the form. The U.S. Courts page says to view the specific job posting for submission instructions.
No tool matches that search.
The U.S. Courts page says some federal courts use this application when seeking applicants for open positions within those specific courts or Judicial Branch agencies. The applicant fills it out and signs it.
The form prints no address. The U.S. Courts page says to view the specific job posting for submission instructions.
Item 7 asks for it, and the form says to complete it only for law enforcement positions. Item 5, place of birth, is marked as required for background investigation. The form has no line for a Social Security number.
The form says to answer questions 19, 20 and 21 only if required by the vacancy announcement.
The form says to start with the present position and work back 10 years, including any military service, and to use an additional page if necessary.
The form says to continue under Remarks, listing the item number being explained. Section 18 and Section 22 are Remarks spaces.
