Sec. 2. Modernization of electronic court records systems
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Not later than the date specified in subsection (e), as modified by any adjustments certified pursuant to section 6(b), the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, in coordination with the Administrator of General Services, shall develop, deliver, and sustain, consistent with the requirements of this section and section 3, one system for all public court records. The system described in subsection
(a)shall comply with the following requirements: The system shall provide search functions, developed in coordination with the Administrator of General Services, for use by the public and by parties before the court. The system shall make public court records automatically accessible to the public upon receipt of such records. Any information made available through a website established pursuant to section 205 of the E–Government Act of 2002 shall be included in the system. Any website for the system shall substantially comply with the requirements under subsections
(b)and
(c)of section 205 of the E–Government Act of 2002. To the extent practicable, external websites shall be able to link to documents on the system. Each website established pursuant to section 205 of the E–Government Act of 2002 shall contain a link to the system. The Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, in coordination with the Administrator of General Services and the Archivist of the United States, shall establish data standards for the system described in this section and section 3. The data standards established under paragraph
(1)shall, to the extent reasonable and practicable— incorporate widely accepted common data elements; incorporate a widely accepted, nonproprietary, full text searchable, platform-independent computer-readable format; and be capable of being continually upgraded as necessary. Not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall issue guidance to all Federal courts on the data standards established under this section. In carrying out the duties under subsection (a), the Director shall use modern technology in order— to improve security, data accessibility, data quality, affordability, and performance; and to minimize the burden on pro se litigants. The date specified in this subsection is January 1, 2025, unless the Administrator of General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, that an additional period of time is required. If the Administrator so certifies, the date specified in this subsection shall be a date that is no later than January 1, 2026. Until the date specified in subsection (e), to cover the costs of carrying out this section and section 3 and pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code, the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a progressive schedule of reasonable additional fees for persons, other than government agencies, who accrue fees for electronic access to information under section 303 of Public Law 102–140 ( 28 U.S.C. 1913 note; 105 Stat. 807) in an amount of $6,000 or greater in any quarter. Any such additional fees shall be assessed on a progressive fee schedule according to the level of use so that higher volume users are assessed higher fees. Pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, in coordination with the Administrator of General Services and the Office of Technology Transformation of the General Services Administration, may prescribe a schedule of reasonable fees for high-volume, for-profit public users of the system described in this section and section 3, to facilitate service-level agreements for maximum response times, integrations, high availability, and service and support. The schedule of fees described in paragraph
(1)shall be based on a determination of specific and substantial need, and may not impair access to justice and the public right of access to court records, restrain innovation in the provision of legal services and access to public court records, nor inhibit not for profit research of the business of the Federal courts. To cover the costs of carrying out this Act, the Judicial Conference of the United States may, only to the extent necessary, prescribe schedules of reasonable user fees, pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code. Such fees shall be based on the extent of use of the system described under this section and section 3 as well as factors such as feasibility, fairness to other users of the system, and efficacy, and may not foreclose access to justice and the public right of access to court records. The Judicial Conference of the United States may not prescribe filing fees to cover the cost of the system described in this section and section 3 unless the Judicial Conference determines that all other sources of fees will not cover the costs of such system. Only after such a determination and only to the extent necessary, the Judicial Conference may prescribe schedules of progressive filing fees under subparagraph (A). In addition to the requirements of subparagraph (A), such filing fees— shall be based on factors to ensure that such schedules are graduated and equitable, including the type of action and claim for relief, the status of a filer, the amount of damages demanded, the estimated complexity of the type of action, and the interests of justice; may be prescribed for the filing of a counterclaim; shall not apply in the case of a pro se litigant or litigant who certifies the litigant’s financial hardship; shall not be a basis for rejecting a filing or otherwise denying a party seeking relief access to the courts of the United States; shall be assessed according to schedules, not on a case-by-case, ad hoc basis; and shall not be greater than 15 percent of any other fees associated with the filing. All fees collected under this subsection shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to section 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out this section. Amounts deposited to the Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to this paragraph and not used to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out this section and section 3 may be used pursuant to section 612(a) of title 28, United States Code. A court may waive any fee imposed under paragraph
(3)in the interest of justice upon motion. Paragraphs
(2)and
(3)shall take effect on the date specified in subsection (e). Paragraph
(1)and section 303 of Public Law 102–140 ( 28 U.S.C. 1913 note; 105 Stat. 807) shall cease to have effect on that date.
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U.S. Code
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- Pub. L. 102-140
- 105 Stat. 807
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Sec. 2
Modernization of electronic court records systems
Pub. L.Pub. L. 102-140
Stat.105 Stat. 807
Cites 3Cited by 0 across 0 sources