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https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/free-pacer-bill-end-fees-online-court-records-advances-senate-2021-12-09/

Free PACER? Bill to end fees for online court records advances in Senate
By Nate Raymond

3 minute read
The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington, U.S., November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington, U.S., November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
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Summary

    Related documents

    Senate panel advances bill for free public access to court filings
    U.S. House of Representatives passed similar bill in prior Congress

(Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel on Thursday advanced a bipartisan bill that would overhaul the federal judiciary's PACER electronic court record system and make the downloading of filings free for the public through the elimination of costly fees.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the Open Courts Act of 2021 to the full Senate for its consideration after adopting an amendment that provided for additional funding and addressed the judiciary's concerns on technical issues.

The panel approved the measure on voice vote without any recorded opposition, and in a sign of the bill's support, nearly all of the committee members elected to co-sponsor the legislation by the end of the hearing.

Similar legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, which during the last Congress passed a version of the bill despite opposition from the judiciary over its costs. The House Judiciary Committee has yet to take up the latest measure.

The Administrative Office for the U.S. Courts, the judiciary's administrative agency, in a statement said it was committed to modernizing its system but that the judiciary remains "concerned" about the funding to make PACER free.

PACER, which stands for Public Access to Court Electronic Records, is run by the Judicial Conference of the United States. Users pay $0.10 per page with a cap of $3 per document (with transcripts excluded).

The judiciary previously estimated it would take in about $142 million in PACER fees in the last fiscal year.

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the committee's Democratic chair, said that while big law firms have no problem paying those fees, for individuals, small business, small law firms and non-profits the charges could be overly expensive.

Under the legislation, the Administrative Office must develop a modern, secure publicly accessible database for records. Durbin said a revamp was needed, particularly calling out PACER's "tortuous" search system.

Gabe Roth, the executive director of the court reform group Fix the Court, said the bill "modernizes the entire case management and filing system in a way that can make the judiciary's IT a crown jewel and not an embarrassment."

To fund the new system, on a short-term basis, high-volume PACER users who currently spend more than $25,000 a quarter to download filings would still be charged fees as would federal agencies.

Once the new database system is up and running, operational costs will primarily be covered by annual agency fees and appropriations from Congress.