Title 28 — Judiciary and Judicial ProcedureRelease 119-73

§481 Automated case information

Title 28 › Part PART I— - ORGANIZATION OF COURTS › Chapter CHAPTER 23— - CIVIL JUSTICE EXPENSE AND DELAY REDUCTION PLANS › § 481

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts must make sure every U.S. district court has an automated system that can quickly show the status of any case. The Director must decide what case data courts must keep and set uniform rules for labeling court actions. Those rules must define what counts as a dismissal and how to measure how long a motion is pending. Each district court must record information the Director requires.

Full Legal Text

Title 28, §481

Judiciary and Judicial Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall ensure that each United States district court has the automated capability readily to retrieve information about the status of each case in such court.

(b)(1)In carrying out subsection (a), the Director shall prescribe—

(A)the information to be recorded in district court automated systems; and

(B)standards for uniform categorization or characterization of judicial actions for the purpose of recording information on judicial actions in the district court automated systems.

(2)The uniform standards prescribed under paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection shall include a definition of what constitutes a dismissal of a case and standards for measuring the period for which a motion has been pending.

(c)Each United States district court shall record information as prescribed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

28 U.S.C. § 481

Title 28 — Judiciary and Judicial Procedure

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73