Sponsors (2)
Official title: Provide for the modernization of electronic case management systems, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 2, 2026 by John Neely Kennedy · Last progress June 2, 2026
The bill modernizes and centralizes public access to federal court records—improving transparency, accessibility, and cybersecurity oversight—while shifting costs onto taxpayers and agencies and raising significant privacy, administrative, and fee-related risks for litigants, researchers, and courts.
All Americans (the public, researchers, journalists, and litigants) get easier, centralized, searchable online access to federal court dockets, filings, orders, opinions, and audio — including APIs and bulk access — improving transparency and ability to find and follow cases.
Researchers, journalists, nonprofits, and state/local governments gain machine-friendly APIs, bulk access, standardized open data formats, and reusable code that enable large-scale analysis, automation, and reuse of court data.
People with disabilities and other users will benefit from required Section 508 accessibility and federal mobile-friendly design standards, making the system more usable for more people.
Litigants, victims, and other individuals face greater risk that sensitive personal data will be publicly exposed and exploited (doxxing, harassment, or commercial misuse) because filings and audio are released on filing and retained online for extended periods.
Building, operating, and maintaining a centralized, modern federal court records system and longer online retention will increase costs borne by taxpayers and courts.
The new fee structure raises access costs for heavy non-government bulk PACER users and creates a mechanism that could lead courts to increase filing fees for litigants above the exemption threshold if fee revenue falls short, harming researchers, small businesses, and some litigants.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a centralized public federal court records system with automatic online access, accessibility and cybersecurity requirements, and a fee framework to fund it.
Creates a centralized, public-facing electronic system that consolidates and automatically publishes most federal court records (dockets, filings, opinions, audio, and related metadata) for covered courts and establishes rules for accessibility, cybersecurity, retention, and fee funding. It requires the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to build and operate the system, directs GAO oversight and audits, ties design to federal accessibility and mobile standards, and authorizes fee changes (including agency reimbursements and potential graduated filing fees) to pay ongoing costs.