HR 5844 United States House · 117th Congress

Open Courts Act of 2021

Summary
Open Courts Act of 2021 This bill requires the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to establish a single electronic system for all public court records that is publicly accessible for free. Under the existing Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system, users are charged fees for accessing court documents. To fund the development of the new consolidated system, the Judicial Conference must temporarily establish a schedule of additional fees for higher-volume nongovernmental users of PACER. To fund the operations of the new system, the Judicial Conference shall collect an annual fee from each federal agency equal to that agency's PACER fees in 2018, adjusted for inflation. The Judicial Conference may also establish reasonable filing fees based on specified factors, including the extent of a person's use and the interests of justice.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Nov 2021
Committee Review
Floor Vote
President
Introduced Nov 3, 2021 Last action Nov 1, 2022
Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
3
Key actions
0
Committee
2
Nov 1, 2022
Committee
Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
lower
Nov 3, 2021
Committee
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
lower
Nov 3, 2021
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors