II 

Calendar No. 307 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2614 

To provide for the modernization of electronic case management systems, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 4, 2021 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. 

GRASSLEY, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. COONS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. 

PADILLA, and Mr. OSSOFF) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

MARCH 15, 2022 

Reported by Mr. DURBIN, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION OF ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS 

2 SYSTEMS. 

3 (a) CONSOLIDATION.—Not later than the date speci4 fied in subsection (e), the Director of the Administrative 

5 Office of the United States Courts, in coordination with 

6 the Administrator of General Services, shall develop, de7 liver, and sustain, consistent with the requirements of this 

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

9 records. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENTS OF SYSTEM.—The system de11 scribed under subsection (a) shall comply with the fol12 lowing requirements: 

13 (1) The system shall provide search functions, 

14 developed in coordination with the Administrator of 

15 General Services, for use by the public and by par16 ties before the court. 

17 (2) The system shall make public court records 

18 automatically accessible to the public upon filing. 

19 (3) Any information made available through a 

20 website established pursuant to section 205 of the 

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

22 system. 

23 (4) Any website for the system shall substan24 tially comply with the requirements under sub25 sections (b) and (c) of section 205 of the E–Govern26 ment Act of 2002. 


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1 (5) To the extent practicable, external websites 

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

3 Each website established pursuant to section 205 of 

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

5 to the system. 

6 (6) To the extent practicable, the system shall 

7 enable courts to automatically generate and submit, 

8 in a computer-readable format, the reports required 

9 by sections 2519(1) and 3103a(d)(1) of title 18, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (c) DATA STANDARDS.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATA STANDARDS.— 

13 The Director of the Administrative Office of the 

14 United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad15 ministrator of General Services and the Archivist of 

16 the United States, shall establish data standards for 

17 the system established under subsection (a). 

18 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The data standards es19 tablished under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent 

20 reasonable and practicable— 

21 (A) incorporate widely accepted common 

22 data elements; 

23 (B) incorporate a widely accepted, non24 proprietary, full text searchable, platform-inde25 pendent computer-readable format; and 


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1 (C) be capable of being continually up2 graded as necessary. 

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

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

5 of the Administrative Office of the United States 

6 Courts shall issue guidance to all Federal courts on 

7 the data standards established under this section. 

8 (d) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In carrying out the du9 ties under subsection (a), the Director shall use modern 

10 technology in order— 

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

12 quality, affordability, and performance; and 

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

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

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

16 the enactment of this Act, unless the Administrator of 

17 General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 

18 90 days after such date of enactment, that an additional 

19 period of time is required. If the Administrator so cer20 tifies, the date specified in this subsection is the date that 

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

22 (f) FUNDS FOR ESTABLISHMENT, OPERATION, AND

23 MAINTENANCE OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS SYS24 TEM.— 


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1 (1) SHORT TERM ACCESS FEES TO FUND ES2 TABLISHMENT OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS

3 SYSTEM.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Ju5 diciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of 

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

7 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended— 

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

9 ‘‘The Judicial Conference shall prescribe a 

10 schedule of additional fees for any person 

11 other than a government agency who ac12 crues such fees for access in an amount of 

13 $25,000 or greater in any quarter. All fees 

14 collected shall be deposited as offsetting 

15 collections to the Judiciary Information 

16 Technology Fund pursuant to section 

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

18 Code, to reimburse expenses incurred in 

19 carrying out section 2 of the Open Courts 

20 Act of 2021.’’ before ‘‘The Director of the 

21 Administrative Office of the United States 

22 Courts’’; and 

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

24 fees hereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as 


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1 otherwise provided in this section, all fees 

2 hereafter’’. 

3 (B) EXCESS FEES.—Amounts deposited in 

4 the Judiciary Information Technology Fund 

5 pursuant to the amendments made by subpara6 graph (A) and not used to reimburse expenses 

7 incurred in carrying out section 2 of this Act 

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

9 28, United States Code. 

10 (C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 

11 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 

12 the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 (2) FILING FEES TO FUND OPERATION AND

14 MAINTENANCE OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS

15 SYSTEM.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Ju17 diciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of 

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

19 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended by striking sub20 sections (a) and (b), and inserting the fol21 lowing: 

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

23 the Open Courts Act of 2021, the Judicial Conference 

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

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


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1 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code, 

2 which— 

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

4 system described under such section 2 for purposes 

5 of such action; 

6 ‘‘(2) shall in addition be based on factors in7 cluding the nature of the action and claim for relief, 

8 the amount of damages demanded, the estimated 

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

10 justice; 

11 ‘‘(3) may be prescribed for the filing of a coun12 terclaim; 

13 ‘‘(4) shall not apply in the case of a pro se liti14 gant or litigant who certifies their financial hard15 ship; and 

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

17 the courts of the United States. 

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

19 transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under subsection 

20 (a) to Congress at least 90 days before the schedule be21 comes effective. All fees collected under subsection (a) 

22 shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the Judiciary 

23 Information Technology Fund pursuant to section 

24 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reimburse 


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1 expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 

2 Courts Act of 2021. 

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

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

5 it becomes effective and every three years thereafter to 

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

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

8 the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new schedule of 

9 fees pursuant to subsection (a) and submit the new sched10 ule of fees to Congress pursuant to subsection (b). 

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

12 Technology Fund pursuant to this section and not used 

13 to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 

14 of the Open Courts Act of 2021 may be used pursuant 

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

16 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 

17 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 

18 the date specified in subsection (e). 

19 SEC. 3. PUBLIC ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS 

20 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT. 

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

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

23 of the United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad24 ministrator of General Services, shall make all materials 


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1 in the system established under section 2 publicly acces2 sible, free of charge. 

3 (b) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In providing public ac4 cess under subsection (a), the Director shall, in coordina5 tion with the Administrator of General Services, use mod6 ern technology in order— 

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

8 of public access, affordability, and performance; and 

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

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

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

12 the enactment of this Act, unless the Administrator of 

13 General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 

14 90 days after such date of enactment, that an additional 

15 period of time is required. If the Administrator so cer16 tifies, the date specified in this subsection is the date that 

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

18 (d) FUNDING FOR PUBLIC ACCESS TO MODERNIZED

19 ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS SYSTEM.— 

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

21 Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of Public Law 

22 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 U.S.C. 1913 note) is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(c)(1) To cover the costs of ensuring the public ac25 cessibility, free of charge, of all materials in the system 


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

2 of 2021 in accordance with section 3 of such Act, the Judi3 cial Conference shall collect an annual fee from Federal 

4 agencies equal to the Public Access to Court Electronic 

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

6 adjusted for inflation. All fees collected under this sub7 section shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the 

8 Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to sec9 tion 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reim10 burse expenses incurred in providing services in accord11 ance with section 3 of the Open Courts Act of 2021. 

12 ‘‘(2) To cover any additional marginal costs of ensur13 ing the public accessibility, free of charge, of all materials 

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

15 Open Courts Act of 2021 in accordance with section 3 of 

16 such Act, the Judicial Conference may prescribe schedules 

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

18 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code. 

19 The schedules— 

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

21 system described under such section 2; 

22 ‘‘(B) shall, in addition, be based on factors in23 cluding the nature of the type of action and claim 

24 for relief, the amount of damages demanded, the esVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2614.RS S2614

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1 timated complexity of the type of action, and the in2 terests of justice; 

3 ‘‘(C) may be prescribed for the filing of a coun4 terclaim; 

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

6 litigant who certifies their financial hardship; and 

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

8 the courts of the United States. 

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

10 shall transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under this 

11 subsection to Congress at least 90 days before the sched12 ule becomes effective. All fees collected under this sub13 section shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the 

14 Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to sec15 tion 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reim16 burse expenses incurred in providing services in accord17 ance with section 3 of the Open Courts Act of 2021. 

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

19 of fees prescribed under this paragraph three years after 

20 it becomes effective and every three years thereafter to 

21 ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this para22 graph. If the fees do not meet the requirements of this 

23 paragraph, the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new 

24 schedule of fees pursuant to this paragraph and submit 


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1 the new schedule of fees to Congress pursuant to subpara2 graph (A). 

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

4 Technology Fund pursuant to this subsection and not used 

5 to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 3 

6 of the Open Courts Act of 2021 may be used to reimburse 

7 expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 

8 Courts Act of 2021. Amounts not used to reimburse ex9 penses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 

10 Courts Act of 2021 may be used pursuant to section 

11 612(a) of title 28, United States Code.’’. 

12 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

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

14 date specified in subsection (d). 

15 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

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

17 Act, shall be construed to— 

18 (1) affect the filing fees or other filing proce19 dures for prisoners; or 

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

21 described in section 1915 of title 28, United States 

22 Code. 

23 SEC. 5. DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS. 

24 The system described under sections 2 and 3 of this 

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1 ply with relevant digital accessibility standards established 

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

3 SEC. 6. GAO REVIEW. 

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

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

6 the Comptroller General of the United States shall notify 

7 Congress whether the Director of the Administrative Of8 fice of United States Courts has— 

9 (1) produced additional usable functionality of 

10 the system described under sections 2 and 3 of this 

11 Act; 

12 (2) held live, publicly accessible demonstrations 

13 of software in development; and 

14 (3) allowed the Comptroller General or a des15 ignee to attend all sprint reviews held during the ap16 plicable period. 

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

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

19 Comptroller General of the United States shall— 

20 (1) conduct an audit of the system established 

21 under this Act, including the compliance of vendors 

22 with the quality assessment surveillance plan, code 

23 quality, and whether the system is meeting the needs 

24 of users; and 


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1 (2) shall submit to Congress a report that con2 tains— 

3 (A) the results of the audit required under 

4 paragraph (1); and 

5 (B) any recommendations to improve the 

6 system established under this Act. 

7 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

9 2021’’. 

10 SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION OF ELECTRONIC FEDERAL COURT 

11 RECORDS SYSTEMS. 

12 (a) CONSOLIDATION.—Not later than the date specified 

13 in subsection (e), the Director of the Administrative Office 

14 of the United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad15 ministrator of General Services, shall develop, deliver, and 

16 sustain, consistent with the requirements of this section and 

17 section 3, one system for all public Federal court records. 

18 (b) REQUIREMENTS OF SYSTEM.—The system de19 scribed under subsection (a) shall comply with the following 

20 requirements: 

21 (1) The system shall provide search functions, 

22 developed in coordination with the Administrator of 

23 General Services, for use by the public and by parties 

24 before the court. 


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1 (2) The system shall make public Federal court 

2 records automatically accessible to the public upon 

3 filing. 

4 (3) The home page for public access to the system 

5 shall include a notice displayed to first-time visitors, 

6 as determined through a mechanism that does not re7 quire registration or impose a fee, that users will not 

8 use the system for an unlawful purpose. Access to doc9 uments through other means, including under para10 graph (6), may not be conditioned upon acknowl11 edging such notice. 

12 (4) Any information made available through a 

13 website established pursuant to section 205 of the E– 

14 Government Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) shall 

15 be included in the system. 

16 (5) Any website for the system shall substantially 

17 comply with the requirements under subsections (b) 

18 and (c) of section 205 of the E–Government Act of 

19 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note). 

20 (6) To the extent practicable, external websites 

21 shall be able to link to documents on the system. Each 

22 website established pursuant to section 205 of the E– 

23 Government Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) shall 

24 contain a link to the system. 


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1 (7) To the extent practicable, the system shall en2 able courts to automatically generate and submit, in 

3 a computer-readable format, the reports required by 

4 sections 2519(1) and 3103a(d)(1) of title 18, United 

5 States Code. 

6 (c) DATA STANDARDS.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATA STANDARDS.—The 

8 Director of the Administrative Office of the United 

9 States Courts, in coordination with the Administrator 

10 of General Services and the Archivist of the United 

11 States, shall establish data standards for the system 

12 established under subsection (a). 

13 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The data standards estab14 lished under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent reason15 able and practicable— 

16 (A) incorporate widely accepted common 

17 data elements; 

18 (B) incorporate a widely accepted, non19 proprietary, full text searchable, platform-inde20 pendent computer-readable format; and 

21 (C) be capable of being continually up22 graded as necessary. 

23 (3) DEADLINES.—Not later than 270 days after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the 

25 Administrative Office of the United States Courts 


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1 shall issue guidance to all Federal courts on the data 

2 standards established under this subsection. 

3 (d) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In carrying out the duties 

4 under subsection (a), the Director of the Administrative Of5 fice of the United States Courts shall use modern tech6 nology— 

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

8 quality, affordability, and performance; and 

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

10 (e) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in this sub11 section is the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, unless the Administrator of General Services 

13 certifies to Congress, by not later than 90 days after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, that an additional period 

15 of time is required. If the Administrator so certifies, the 

16 date specified in this subsection is the date that is 3 years 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 (f) FUNDS FOR ESTABLISHMENT, OPERATION, AND

19 MAINTENANCE OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS SYS20 TEM.— 

21 (1) SHORT TERM ACCESS FEES TO FUND ESTAB22 LISHMENT OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS SYS23 TEM.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Judi25 ciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of PubVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2614.RS S2614

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1 lic Law 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 U.S.C. 

2 1913 note) is amended— 

3 (i) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘The 

4 Judicial Conference shall prescribe, after 

5 providing public notice and an opportunity 

6 for public comment, a schedule of additional 

7 fees for any person other than a government 

8 agency that accrues such fees for access in 

9 an amount of $25,000 or greater in any 

10 quarter. All fees collected under the pre11 ceding sentence shall be deposited as offset12 ting collections to the Judiciary Informa13 tion Technology Fund pursuant to section 

14 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, 

15 to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying 

16 out sections 2 and 3 of the Open Courts Act 

17 of 2021.’’ before ‘‘The Director of the Ad18 ministrative Office of the United States 

19 Courts’’; and 

20 (ii) in subsection (b), in the second 

21 sentence, by striking ‘‘All’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this sec23 tion, all’’. 

24 (B) EXCESS FEES.—Amounts deposited in 

25 the Judiciary Information Technology Fund 


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1 pursuant to the amendments made by subpara2 graph (A) may only be used for purposes of this 

3 Act. 

4 (C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments 

5 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 

6 the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 (2) FILING FEES TO FUND OPERATION AND MAIN8 TENANCE OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS SYS9 TEM.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Judi11 ciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of Pub12 lic Law 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 U.S.C. 

13 1913 note) is amended by striking subsections 

14 (a) and (b), and inserting the following: 

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

16 Open Courts Act of 2021, the Judicial Conference may, 

17 after providing public notice and an opportunity for public 

18 comment and only to the extent necessary to cover such costs 

19 not otherwise provided by appropriations, prescribe sched20 ules of reasonable filing fees, pursuant to sections 1913, 

21 1914, 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code, 

22 which— 

23 ‘‘(1) shall be based on the extent of use of the sys24 tem described under such section 2 for purposes of 

25 carrying out such section 2; 


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1 ‘‘(2) shall be based on factors to ensure that such 

2 schedules are graduated, including the cause of action 

3 and claim for relief, the status of the filer in the ac4 tion and the financial hardship an additional fee 

5 would place on the filer, the amount of damages de6 manded, the estimated complexity of the type of ac7 tion, and the interests of justice; 

8 ‘‘(3) may be prescribed for the filing of a coun9 terclaim; 

10 ‘‘(4) shall not apply in the case of a pro se liti11 gant, a first time litigant who is an individual, or 

12 a litigant who certifies their financial hardship; and 

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

14 courts of the United States. 

15 ‘‘(b)(1) The Judicial Conference and the Director of 

16 the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (in 

17 this section referred to as the ‘Director’) shall transmit each 

18 schedule of fees prescribed under subsection (a) to Congress 

19 at least 90 days before the schedule becomes effective. All 

20 fees collected under subsection (a) shall be deposited as off21 setting collections to the Judiciary Information Technology 

22 Fund pursuant to section 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United 

23 States Code, to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out 

24 section 2 of the Open Courts Act of 2021. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The Judicial Conference shall review a schedule 

2 of fees prescribed under subsection (a) 3 years after the 

3 schedule becomes effective and every 3 years thereafter to 

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

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

6 Judicial Conference shall, after providing public notice and 

7 an opportunity for public comment, prescribe a new sched8 ule of fees pursuant to subsection (a) and submit the new 

9 schedule of fees to Congress pursuant to this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(c) A court, upon motion, may waive any fee imposed 

11 under subsection (a) in the interest of justice.’’. 

12 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 

13 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 

14 the date specified in subsection (e). 

15 (g) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Administrative 

17 Office of the United States Courts shall submit to the Com18 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee 

19 on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report 

20 on the amount of appropriations necessary to carry out sub21 sections (a) through (d). 

22 SEC. 3. PUBLIC ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC FEDERAL COURT 

23 RECORDS SYSTEM REQUIREMENT. 

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

25 in subsection (c), the Director of the Administrative Office 


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1 of the United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad2 ministrator of General Services, shall make all materials 

3 in the system established under section 2 publicly accessible, 

4 free of charge, and without requiring registration. 

5 (b) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In providing public access 

6 under subsection (a), the Director of the Administrative Of7 fice of the United States Courts shall, in coordination with 

8 the Administrator of General Services, use modern tech9 nology— 

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

11 of public access, affordability, and performance; and 

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

13 (c) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in this sub14 section is the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, unless the Administrator of General Services 

16 certifies to Congress, by not later than 90 days after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, that an additional period 

18 of time is required. If the Administrator so certifies, the 

19 date specified in this subsection is the date that is 3 years 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 (d) FUNDING FOR PUBLIC ACCESS TO MODERNIZED

22 ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS SYSTEM.— 

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

24 Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of Public Law 

25 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 U.S.C. 1913 note), as 


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1 amended by section 2(f)(2)(A) of this Act, is amended 

2 by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(d)(1) To cover the costs of ensuring the public acces4 sibility, free of charge, of all materials in the system de5 scribed under sections 2 and 3 of the Open Courts Act of 

6 2021 in accordance with section 3 of such Act, the Adminis7 trative Office of the United States Courts shall collect an 

8 annual fee from Federal agencies equal to the Public Access 

9 to Court Electronic Records access fees paid by those agen10 cies in 2021, as adjusted for inflation. For any Federal 

11 agency that did not pay Public Access to Court Electronic 

12 Records access fees in fiscal year 2021, the Administrative 

13 Office of the United States Courts may collect fees based 

14 on a standard annual fee determined by the Judicial Con15 ference. All fees collected under this subsection shall be de16 posited as offsetting collections to the Judiciary Informa17 tion Technology Fund pursuant to section 612(c)(1)(A) of 

18 title 28, United States Code, to reimburse expenses incurred 

19 in providing services in accordance with section 3 of the 

20 Open Courts Act of 2021. 

21 ‘‘(2) To cover any additional marginal costs of ensur22 ing the public accessibility, free of charge, of all materials 

23 in the system described under sections 2 and 3 of the Open 

24 Courts Act of 2021 in accordance with section 3 of such 

25 Act, the Judicial Conference may, after providing public 


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1 notice and an opportunity for public comment and only 

2 to the extent necessary to cover such costs not otherwise pro3 vided by appropriations, prescribe schedules of reasonable 

4 filing fees, pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 1926, 1930, and 

5 1932 of title 28, United States Code, which— 

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

7 system described under such section 2; 

8 ‘‘(B) shall, in addition, be based on factors to en9 sure that such schedules are graduated, including the 

10 cause of action and claim for relief, the status of the 

11 filer in the action and the financial hardship an ad12 ditional fee would place on the filer, the amount of 

13 damages demanded, the estimated complexity of the 

14 type of action, and the interests of justice; 

15 ‘‘(C) may be prescribed for the filing of a coun16 terclaim; 

17 ‘‘(D) shall not apply to a pro se litigant, a first 

18 time litigant who is an individual, or a litigant who 

19 certifies their financial hardship; and 

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

21 the courts of the United States. 

22 ‘‘(3)(A) The Judicial Conference and the Director shall 

23 transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under this sub24 section to Congress at least 90 days before the schedule be25 comes effective. All fees collected under this subsection shall 


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1 be deposited as offsetting collections to the Judiciary Infor2 mation Technology Fund pursuant to section 612(c)(1)(A) 

3 of title 28, United States Code, to reimburse expenses in4 curred in providing public access in accordance with sec5 tion 3 of the Open Courts Act of 2021. 

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

7 of fees prescribed under this subsection 3 years after the 

8 schedule becomes effective and every 3 years thereafter to 

9 ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this subsection. 

10 If the fees do not meet the requirements of this subsection, 

11 the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new schedule of 

12 fees pursuant to this subsection and submit the new schedule 

13 of fees to Congress pursuant to subparagraph (A). 

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

15 Technology Fund pursuant to this subsection and not used 

16 to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 3 

17 of the Open Courts Act of 2021 may be used to reimburse 

18 expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 of that Act and 

19 not for any other purpose.’’. 

20 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 paragraph (1) shall take effect on the date specified 

22 in subsection (c). 

23 SEC. 4. DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS. 

24 The system described under sections 2 and 3 of this 

25 Act shall comply with relevant digital accessibility standVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2614.RS S2614

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1 ards established pursuant to section 508 of the Rehabilita2 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). 

3 SEC. 5. GAO REVIEW. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, the 

6 Comptroller General of the United States shall notify Con7 gress whether the Director of the Administrative Office of 

8 United States Courts has— 

9 (1) produced additional usable functionality of 

10 the system described under sections 2 and 3 of this 

11 Act; 

12 (2) held live, publicly accessible demonstrations 

13 of software in development; and 

14 (3) allowed the Comptroller General or a des15 ignee to attend all sprint reviews held during the ap16 plicable period. 

17 (b) AUDIT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

18 enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Comp19 troller General of the United States shall— 

20 (1) conduct an audit of the system established 

21 under this Act, including the compliance of vendors 

22 with the quality assessment surveillance plan, code 

23 quality, and whether the system is meeting the needs 

24 of users; and 

25 (2) submit to Congress a report that contains— 


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1 (A) the results of the audit; and 

2 (B) any recommendations to improve the 

3 system established under this Act. 

4 SEC. 6. CYBERSECURITY REVIEW. 

5 The Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office 

6 of the United States Courts, as applicable, shall ensure the 

7 cybersecurity of the system described under sections 2 and 

8 3 of this Act, in coordination with the relevant cybersecu9 rity expert agencies in the executive branch and consistent 

10 with the relevant cybersecurity standards that would apply 

11 if the system would be operated by an agency in the execu12 tive branch. 

13 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

15 may be necessary to carry out sections 2 and 3 of this Act. 

16 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

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

18 Act, shall be construed to— 

19 (1) affect the filing fees or other filing procedures 

20 for prisoners; or 

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

22 described in section 1915 of title 28, United States 

23 Code. 


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Calendar No. 307 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2614 

A BILL 

To provide for the modernization of electronic case 

management systems, and for other purposes. 

MARCH 15, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS