II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4988 

To provide for the modernization of electronic case management systems, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 9, 2020 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the modernization of electronic case 

management systems, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Courts Act of 

5 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION OF ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS 

7 SYSTEMS. 

8 (a) CONSOLIDATION.—Not later than the date speci9 fied in subsection (e), the Director of the Administrative 

10 Office of the United States Courts, in coordination with 


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1 the Administrator of General Services, shall develop, de2 liver, and sustain, consistent with the requirements of this 

3 section and section 3, one system for all public court 

4 records. 

5 (b) REQUIREMENTS OF SYSTEM.—The system de6 scribed under subsection (a) shall comply with the fol7 lowing requirements: 

8 (1) The system shall provide search functions, 

9 developed in coordination with the Administrator of 

10 General Services, for use by the public and by par11 ties before the court. 

12 (2) The system shall make public court records 

13 automatically accessible to the public upon filing. 

14 (3) Any information made available through a 

15 website established pursuant to section 205 of the 

16 E–Government Act of 2002 shall be included in the 

17 system. 

18 (4) Any website for the system shall substan19 tially comply with the requirements under sub20 sections (b) and (c) of section 205 of the E–Govern21 ment Act of 2002. 

22 (5) To the extent practicable, external websites 

23 shall be able to link to documents on the system. 

24 Each website established pursuant to section 205 of 


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1 the E–Government Act of 2002 shall contain a link 

2 to the system. 

3 (c) DATA STANDARDS.— 

4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATA STANDARDS.— 

5 The Director of the Administrative Office of the 

6 United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad7 ministrator of General Services and the Archivist of 

8 the United States, shall establish data standards for 

9 the system established under subsection (a). 

10 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The data standards es11 tablished under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent 

12 reasonable and practicable— 

13 (A) incorporate widely accepted common 

14 data elements; 

15 (B) incorporate a widely accepted, non16 proprietary, full text searchable, platform-inde17 pendent computer-readable format; and 

18 (C) be capable of being continually up19 graded as necessary. 

20 (3) DEADLINES.—Not later than 6 months 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

22 of the Administrative Office of the United States 

23 Courts shall issue guidance to all Federal courts on 

24 the data standards established under this section. 


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1 (d) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In carrying out the du2 ties under subsection (a), the Director shall use modern 

3 technology in order— 

4 (1) to improve security, data accessibility, data 

5 quality, affordability, and performance; and 

6 (2) to minimize the burden on pro se litigants. 

7 (e) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in this 

8 subsection is the date that is 2 years after the date of 

9 the enactment of this Act, unless the Administrator of 

10 General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 

11 90 days after such date of enactment, that an additional 

12 period of time is required. If the Administrator so cer13 tifies, the date specified in this subsection is the date that 

14 is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 (f) FUNDS FOR ESTABLISHMENT, OPERATION, AND

16 MAINTENANCE OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS SYS17 TEM.— 

18 (1) SHORT TERM ACCESS FEES TO FUND ES19 TABLISHMENT OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS

20 SYSTEM.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Ju22 diciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of 

23 Public Law 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 

24 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended— 


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1 (i) in subsection (a), by inserting 

2 ‘‘The Judicial Conference shall prescribe a 

3 schedule of additional fees for any person 

4 other than a government agency who ac5 crues such fees for access in an amount of 

6 $25,000 or greater in any quarter. All fees 

7 collected shall be deposited as offsetting 

8 collections to the Judiciary Information 

9 Technology Fund pursuant to section 

10 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States 

11 Code, to reimburse expenses incurred in 

12 carrying out section 2 of the Open Courts 

13 Act of 2020.’’ before ‘‘The Director of the 

14 Administrative Office of the United States 

15 Courts’’; and 

16 (ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘All 

17 fees hereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as 

18 otherwise provided in this section, all fees 

19 hereafter’’. 

20 (B) EXCESS FEES.—Amounts deposited in 

21 the Judiciary Information Technology Fund 

22 pursuant to the amendments made by subpara23 graph (A) and not used to reimburse expenses 

24 incurred in carrying out section 2 of this Act 


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1 may be used pursuant to section 612(a) of title 

2 28, United States Code. 

3 (C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 

4 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 

5 the date of enactment of this Act. 

6 (2) FILING FEES TO FUND OPERATION AND

7 MAINTENANCE OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS

8 SYSTEM.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Ju10 diciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of 

11 Public Law 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 

12 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended by striking sub13 sections (a) and (b), and inserting the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(a) To cover the costs of carrying out section 2 of 

16 the Open Courts Act of 2020, the Judicial Conference 

17 may, only to the extent necessary, prescribe schedules of 

18 reasonable filing fees, pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 

19 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code, 

20 which— 

21 ‘‘(1) shall be based on the extent of use of the 

22 system described under such section 2 for purposes 

23 of such action; 

24 ‘‘(2) shall in addition be based on factors in25 cluding the nature of the action and claim for relief, 


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1 the amount of damages demanded, the estimated 

2 complexity of the type of action, and the interests of 

3 justice; 

4 ‘‘(3) may be prescribed for the filing of a coun5 terclaim; 

6 ‘‘(4) shall not apply in the case of a pro se liti7 gant or litigant who certifies their financial hard8 ship; and 

9 ‘‘(5) shall not be a basis for denying access to 

10 the courts of the United States. 

11 ‘‘(b) The Judicial Conference and the Director shall 

12 transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under subsection 

13 (a) to Congress at least 90 days before the schedule be14 comes effective. All fees collected under subsection (a) 

15 shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the Judiciary 

16 Information Technology Fund pursuant to section 

17 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reimburse 

18 expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 

19 Courts Act of 2020. 

20 ‘‘(c) The Judicial Conference shall review a schedule 

21 of fees prescribed under subsection (a) three years after 

22 it becomes effective and every three years thereafter to 

23 ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this section. 

24 If the fees do not meet the requirements of this section, 

25 the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new schedule of 


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1 fees pursuant to subsection (a) and submit the new sched2 ule of fees to Congress pursuant to subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(d) Amounts deposited to the Judiciary Information 

4 Technology Fund pursuant to this section and not used 

5 to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 

6 of the Open Courts Act of 2020 may be used pursuant 

7 to section 612(a) of title 28, United States Code.’’. 

8 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 

9 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 

10 the date specified in subsection (e). 

11 SEC. 3. PUBLIC ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS 

12 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date specified 

14 in subsection (d), the Director of the Administrative Office 

15 of the United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad16 ministrator of General Services, shall make all materials 

17 in the system established under section 2 publicly acces18 sible, free of charge. 

19 (b) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In providing public ac20 cess under subsection (a), the Director shall, in coordina21 tion with the Administrator of General Services, use mod22 ern technology in order— 

23 (1) to improve security, data accessibility, ease 

24 of public access, affordability, and performance; and 

25 (2) to minimize the burden on pro se litigants. 


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1 (c) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in this 

2 subsection is the date that is 2 years after the date of 

3 the enactment of this Act, unless the Administrator of 

4 General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 

5 90 days after such date of enactment, that an additional 

6 period of time is required. If the Administrator so cer7 tifies, the date specified in this subsection is the date that 

8 is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 (d) FUNDING FOR PUBLIC ACCESS TO MODERNIZED

10 ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS SYSTEM.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Judiciary 

12 Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of Public Law 

13 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 U.S.C. 1913 note) is 

14 amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(c)(1) To cover the costs of ensuring the public ac16 cessibility, free of charge, of all materials in the system 

17 described under sections 2 and 3 of the Open Courts Act 

18 of 2020 in accordance with section 3 of such Act, the Judi19 cial Conference shall collect an annual fee from Federal 

20 agencies equal to the Public Access to Court Electronic 

21 Records access fees paid by those agencies in 2018, as 

22 adjusted for inflation. All fees collected under this sub23 section shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the 

24 Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to sec25 tion 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reimVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Dec 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988

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1 burse expenses incurred in providing services in accord2 ance with section 3 of the Open Courts Act of 2020. 

3 ‘‘(2) To cover any additional marginal costs of ensur4 ing the public accessibility, free of charge, of all materials 

5 in the system described under sections 2 and 3 of the 

6 Open Courts Act of 2020 in accordance with section 3 of 

7 such Act, the Judicial Conference may prescribe schedules 

8 of reasonable filing fees, pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 

9 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code. 

10 The schedules— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall be based on the extent of use of the 

12 system described under such section 2; 

13 ‘‘(B) shall, in addition, be based on factors in14 cluding the nature of the type of action and claim 

15 for relief, the amount of damages demanded, the es16 timated complexity of the type of action, and the in17 terests of justice; 

18 ‘‘(C) may be prescribed for the filing of a coun19 terclaim; 

20 ‘‘(D) shall not apply to a pro se litigant or a 

21 litigant who certifies their financial hardship; and 

22 ‘‘(E) shall not be a basis for denying access to 

23 the courts of the United States. 

24 ‘‘(3)(A) The Judicial Conference and the Director 

25 shall transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under this 


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1 subsection to Congress at least 90 days before the sched2 ule becomes effective. All fees collected under this sub3 section shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the 

4 Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to sec5 tion 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reim6 burse expenses incurred in providing services in accord7 ance with section 3 of the Open Courts Act of 2020. 

8 ‘‘(B) The Judicial Conference shall review a schedule 

9 of fees prescribed under this paragraph three years after 

10 it becomes effective and every three years thereafter to 

11 ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this para12 graph. If the fees do not meet the requirements of this 

13 paragraph, the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new 

14 schedule of fees pursuant to this paragraph and submit 

15 the new schedule of fees to Congress pursuant to subpara16 graph (A). 

17 ‘‘(C) Amounts deposited to the Judiciary Information 

18 Technology Fund pursuant to this subsection and not used 

19 to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 3 

20 of the Open Courts Act of 2020 may be used to reimburse 

21 expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 

22 Courts Act of 2020. Amounts not used to reimburse ex23 penses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 

24 Courts Act of 2020 may be used pursuant to section 

25 612(a) of title 28, United States Code.’’. 


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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

2 by paragraph (1) shall take effect beginning on the 

3 date specified in subsection (d). 

4 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

5 Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 

6 Act, shall be construed to— 

7 (1) affect the filing fees or other filing proce8 dures for prisoners; or 

9 (2) abrogate, limit, or modify the requirements 

10 described in section 1915 of title 28, United States 

11 Code. 

12 SEC. 5. DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS. 

13 The system described under sections 2 and 3 of this 

14 Act or the amendments made by such sections shall com15 ply with relevant digital accessibility standards established 

16 pursuant to section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 

17 SEC. 6. GAO REVIEW. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, 

20 the Comptroller General of the United States shall notify 

21 Congress whether the Director of the Administrative Of22 fice of United States Courts has— 

23 (1) produced additional usable functionality of 

24 the system described under sections 2 and 3 of this 

25 Act; 


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1 (2) held live, publicly accessible demonstrations 

2 of software in development; and 

3 (3) allowed the Comptroller General or a des4 ignee to attend all sprint reviews held during the ap5 plicable period. 

6 (b) AUDIT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

8 Comptroller General of the United States shall— 

9 (1) conduct an audit of the system established 

10 under this Act, including the compliance of vendors 

11 with the quality assessment surveillance plan, code 

12 quality, and whether the system is meeting the needs 

13 of users; and 

14 (2) shall submit to Congress a report that con15 tains— 

16 (A) the results of the audit required under 

17 paragraph (1); and 

18 (B) any recommendations to improve the 

19 system established under this Act. 

Æ 


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