I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9108 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to create a right of public access 

to certain records relating to the courts of the United States, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 23, 2024 

Mr. SCHIFF introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Accountability 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to create a right 

of public access to certain records relating to the courts 

of the United States, 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 ‘‘Judicial FOIA Expan5 sion Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 

2 ACT AND THE PRIVACY ACT TO THE JUDICI3 ARY. 

4 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Title 5, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in section 551— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting after 

8 ‘‘the courts of the United States’’ the following: 

9 ‘‘, except for purposes of sections 552 and 

10 552a’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

12 and inserting a semicolon; 

13 (C) in paragraph (14), by striking the pe14 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(15) ‘court of the United States’— 

17 ‘‘(A) means— 

18 ‘‘(i) a court or other entity in the ju19 dicial branch that receives funds appro20 priated by the Financial Services and Gen21 eral Government Appropriations Act, in22 cluding the United States Supreme Court, 

23 the United States Court of Appeals for the 

24 Federal Circuit, the United States Court 

25 of International Trade, the United States 

26 Courts of Appeals, the United States disVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Aug 20, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9108.IH H9108

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1 trict courts, the Administrative Office of 

2 the United States Courts, the Federal Ju3 dicial Center, the United States Sentencing 

4 Commission, the Federal defender organi5 zations; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) a security or protective service 

7 provided using funds appropriated by the 

8 Financial Services and General Govern9 ment Appropriations Act for a Federal 

10 courthouse, or for an officer or employee of 

11 the judicial branch; and 

12 ‘‘(B) does not include the Foreign Intel13 ligence Surveillance Court.’’; and 

14 (2) by inserting after section 552b the following 

15 new section: 

16 ‘‘§ 552c. Applicability to the courts of the United 

17 States 

18 ‘‘(a) APPLICABILITY OF SECTION 552.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to what is re20 quired under section 552, the following types of in21 formation are subject to a record request with re22 spect to the courts of the United States: 

23 ‘‘(A) Any record of attorney disciplinary 

24 proceeding or sanction, excluding any case 

25 record relating to the deliberation of the disVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Aug 20, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9108.IH H9108

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1 ciplinary hearing in accordance with paragraph 

2 (2)(A). 

3 ‘‘(B) Any complaint, investigation, and 

4 order against a judge or other court personnel. 

5 ‘‘(C) Meeting calendars and minutes of the 

6 Federal Judicial Conference and the member7 ship list for each committee. 

8 ‘‘(D) Research and educational material 

9 produced by the Federal Judicial Center. 

10 ‘‘(E) Any completed jury selection form. 

11 ‘‘(F) Any performance report for a judge 

12 or personnel. 

13 ‘‘(G) Any technical audit or update plan 

14 for PACER. 

15 ‘‘(H) Any annual report to Congress, in16 cluding each committee and subcommittee of 

17 Congress. 

18 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTIONS.—In addition to the matters 

19 described under section 552(b), section 552 does not 

20 apply to the following with respect to the courts of 

21 the United States: 

22 ‘‘(A) Any matter related to an ongoing 

23 case. 

24 ‘‘(B) Any information not in the possession 

25 of the courts of the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(3) MACHINE-READABILITY.—Any information 

2 published or provided under section 552 or 552a by 

3 a court of the United States shall be machine-read4 able (as such term is defined in section 3502 of title 

5 44). 

6 ‘‘(b) REPRESENTATION.—The Attorney General shall 

7 represent a court of the United States in any claim 

8 brought under section 552 or section 552a.’’. 

9 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec10 tion, or any amendment made by this section, may be con11 strued as displacing the common law right of public access 

12 to judicial records. 

13 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 

15 2025 to meet the requirements of this Act, including the 

16 creation of an office to meet such requirements within the 

17 Administrative Office of the United States Courts. 

18 (d) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 

19 the application thereof, is held invalid, the validity of the 

20 remainder of this Act and the application of such provision 

21 to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected 

22 thereby. 

Æ 


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