28 U.S.C. § 1494
Section 1494 · Accounts of officers, agents or contractors
Amended 5 times on record
Applied in 19 court decisions — leading case United States v. Testan (1976)
Most recently applied in Husayn v. Mitchell (June 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The United States Court of Federal Claims shall have jurisdiction to determine the amount, if any, due to or from the United States by reason of any unsettled account of any officer or agent of, or contractor with, the United States, or a guarantor, surety or personal representative of any such officer, agent or contractor, and to render judgment thereof,1 where—
(1) claimant or the person he represents has applied to the proper department of the Government for settlement of the account;
(2) three years have elapsed from the date of such application without settlement; and
(3) no suit upon the same has been brought by the United States.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §287 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, §180, 36 Stat. 1141; Feb. 13, 1925, ch. 229, §3, 43 Stat. 939).
Only the jurisdictional provisions of section 287 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., are contained in this section. The procedural provisions are incorporated in section 2511 of this title.
Changes were made in phraseology.
Amendments
1992—Pub. L. 102–572 substituted “United States Court of Federal Claims” for “United States Claims Court”.
1982—Pub. L. 97–164 substituted “United States Claims Court” for “Court of Claims”.
1954—Act Sept. 3, 1954, struck out “United States” from name of Court of Claims.
1953—Act July 28, 1953, substituted “United States Court of Claims” for “Court of Claims”, inserted “to or from” after “due”, and inserted “and to render judgment thereon,”.
Effective Date of 1992 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 102–572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 of Pub. L. 102–572, set out as a note under section 171 of this title.
Effective Date of 1982 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 97–164 effective Oct. 1, 1982, see section 402 of Pub. L. 97–164, set out as a note under section 171 of this title.
Cross References
Procedure on accounts of officers, agents, or contractors, see section 2511 of this title.