Open Courts Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Kennedy, John [R-LA]
Introduced
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.
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- 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.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
One national system for court records
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 Supreme Court, the INA section 502 immigration court, and certain FISA courts would be excluded. The system would include dockets, documents filed in dockets, orders and opinions, audio recordings, and other records the Director identifies. The system would be delivered within five years of enactment, or six years if the Director certifies an extension.
New fees for agencies and heavy users
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-access tools. If agency fees do not cover costs in the first full fiscal year after the system starts, the Judicial Conference could set graduated filing fees, but people with adjusted gross income under $250,000 would be exempt and courts could waive fees. All fees would go into the Judiciary Information Technology Fund; any unobligated balance over $50,000,000 would be sent to the Treasury and trigger a fee review.
Preserve prisoner filing protections
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
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 notices.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Kennedy, John [R-LA]
LA • R
Cosponsors
Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
OR • D
Sponsored 6/2/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov