Sponsors (3)
Official title: Amend title 5, United States Code, to create a right of public access to certain records relating to the courts of the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 20, 2026 by Adam Schiff · Last progress July 20, 2026
The bill increases public transparency and accountability of the federal judiciary and modernizes data access, at the cost of privacy risks for judges/jurors, new operational and security burdens for courts, and likely litigation over scope and exemptions.
Taxpayers, litigants, journalists, and the public will gain routine access to a wide range of judicial-branch records (disciplinary actions, complaints, FJC research, PACER audits, jury-selection forms), increasing transparency and strengthening accountability of the federal judiciary.
Researchers, journalists, and the public will get machine-readable judicial data, making records easier to search, analyze, and reuse for oversight, research, and reporting.
Federal courts will have centralized legal defense in FOIA/Privacy Act litigation because the Attorney General will represent the courts, reducing coordination burdens on individual courts and likely cutting duplicative legal overhead.
Judges, court staff, jurors, and third parties face heightened privacy and personal-data exposure from disclosures of disciplinary records, performance reports, and completed jury forms.
Federal courts will incur significant operational burdens and ongoing costs to process requests and publish machine-readable data, which could divert staff and resources from casework despite the one-time authorization.
Publishing certain records (committee membership, protective-service details, or other sensitive lists) could create security and safety risks for courthouse personnel and law enforcement.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Makes FOIA and the Privacy Act apply to most federal courts and judicial entities, requires publication of many judicial records in machine‑readable form, and authorizes $10M for FY2027 to implement.
Makes the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act explicitly apply to most federal courts and several judicial-branch entities, requiring public access and machine-readable publication of many categories of judicial records. Establishes definitions of covered courts (excluding the FISA Court), limits two narrow exemptions (ongoing-case matters and records not in possession), directs the Attorney General to represent courts in FOIA/Privacy Act litigation, and authorizes $10 million for FY2027 to implement the changes and create an office in the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to manage compliance. Preserves existing common-law public access rights, requires certain categories of records to be made available (for example, attorney disciplinary records, complaints and investigations regarding judges or personnel, Federal Judicial Conference materials, completed jury selection forms, PACER audit reports, and annual congressional reports), and includes a severability clause in case parts are held invalid.