# 119-s-4667: Open Courts Act of 2026

119-s-4667, Open Courts Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4667
- As of: 2026-08-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4667
- Congress: 119
- Title: Open Courts Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-06-02
- Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Law
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-11

## Summary

**Centralized public access to federal court records** is the bill's main goal. It would modernize how court documents are stored and delivered and set technical, security, and funding rules. - Citizens, journalists, and researchers would use a single public interface for covered federal court records. The system must support accessibility, machine-readable data, notifications, and reusable open-source code. - Courts and clerks would get a statutory framework that defines which courts and records are covered, excludes specified courts, and allows non-covered courts to adopt the system's code. The bill also extends electronic notices and communications to bankruptcy proceedings. - The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC) would develop and operate the system with optional administrative support from the General Services Administration. Funding would come from upfront and ongoing fees placed into dedicated funds with caps, annual evaluations, and a schedule tied to a five-year implementation window with a possible one-year extension.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR), 2026-06-02T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- One national system for court records: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would require the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to build and run one centralized public-access system for many federal court records. Covered courts would include any federal court in the judicial branch and any federal court that was on PACER at enactment, but the S…
- Preserve prisoner filing protections: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would not change filing fees or filing procedures for prisoners. It would not change the rules in 28 U.S.C. 1915. It would not require disclosure of information that is lawfully sealed or otherwise restricted by federal law.
- Electronic notices for bankruptcy cases: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would add the word "electronic" in several places in the bankruptcy notice rules. That would let courts, debtors, creditors, and trustees use electronic addresses and provide official bankruptcy notices by email or other electronic means where the statute refers to addresses or…
- New fees for agencies and heavy users: mixed, medium. If enacted, federal agencies would pay an annual fee equal to the PACER access fees they paid in the fiscal year before enactment, adjusted for inflation. The Judicial Conference would set short-term extra fees for any non-government user who pays $25,000 or more in a quarter or who uses bulk-acces…

## Related bills

- 119-s-891: Bipartisan Health Care Act
- 119-s-3257: John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act
- 119-s-3940: Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act
- 119-s-3524: American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act of 2025
- 119-s-1552: Living Donor Protection Act of 2025
- 119-s-410: Love Lives On Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-4667 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4667)

## Related
- [119-s-891: Bipartisan Health Care Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-891)
- [119-s-3257: John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3257)
- [119-s-3940: Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3940)
- [119-s-3524: American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3524)
- [119-s-1552: Living Donor Protection Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1552)
- [119-s-410: Love Lives On Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-410)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4667 (as of 2026-08-11).