1

Electronic Public Access User Group Conference Call

October 26, 2020

Electronic Public Access (EPA) Public User Group Members Present:

Christopher Allman Assistant U.S. Attorney, Kansas, Department of Justice 

Adam Angione Midwest and Northeast Bureau Chief, Courthouse News Service 

JoAnn DiSanti Associate Director of Managing Clerks, White & Case LLP 

Nicholas Goldrosen Student, Institute of Criminology – University of Cambridge

Todd Higey Representative, National Association of Professional Background 

Screeners 

Seamus Hughes Deputy Director, Program on Extremism, George Washington University 

Margo Kirchner General Counsel and Development Director, Wisconsin Justice Initiative 

Tyler Mills Team Lead, Bloomberg Law 

Robert Patrick Reporter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Theresa Reiss Law Librarian, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress 

Gabriella Sarnoff Assistant Managing Attorney, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP 

Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO)

Aicha Campbell Program Analyst, National Programs Branch, Court Services Office

Angela Jaffee Branch Chief, National Programs Branch, Court Services Office

Beth Grabo Manager, Web Communications & New Media, Office of Public Affairs 

Emily Poland Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Public Affairs, Office of Public Affairs

James Cartwright Branch Chief, PACER Development Branch 

Jane MacCracken Group Chair and Division Chief, Programs Division, Court Services Office 

Jason Edwards Chief, Court Services Office

Joann Swanson Chief, Enterprise Operations Center 

Jole Awtrey Branch Chief, Case Management Branch, Court Services Office 

Julie Neville Attorney Advisor, National Programs Branch, Court Services Office

Linda Melchor Program Analyst, National Programs Branch, Court Services Office 

Michelle Gardner Attorney Advisor, National Programs Branch, Court Services Office

Conference Call Summary

Welcome from Jason Edwards, Chief, Court Services Office, and Jane MacCracken, Chief, 

Programs Division, Court Services Office and Public User Group Chair.

Status of Public User Group Recommendations 

The AO continues to analyze, and where feasible, pursue the Group’s recommendations. In 

order to be feasible, recommendations must be achievable technically, legally and subject to 

funding availability. 
2

The AO provided the following update on the status of the Group’s original recommendations.1

Recommendations in Progress

1. A new page will be added to the recently revised PACER website that will be dedicated to 

unrepresented litigants and indigent users. This page will provide information in plain 

language describing how to access PACER and request PACER fee exemptions from courts. It 

is expected that this page will be published in the coming weeks. The Department of 

Justice’s Office of Legal Policy also supported this effort and provided feedback.

2. The PACER Case Locator enhancements (effective November 15, 2020) include two new 

features that the Group requested: 

a. The Update to Court Information page now includes the date range of the case 

information available in a court’s CM/ECF system. Users can find this information 

under a new column labeled “coverage date.” 

b. Users have expanded search capability to use one character in combination with a 

wildcard character in the case title and party name fields. Users will be required to 

limit such a search to a span of 30 days or less. 2

3. The Group recommended that PDFs be more easily viewable on mobile devices. This 

functionality will be fixed in the next release of NextGen District CM/ECF, tentatively 

scheduled for Fall 2021. 

4. The Group’s recommendation that courts fully and consistently implement RSS feeds has 

been addressed. The AO sent a survey to all federal courts in order to identify and resolve 

implementation issues and encourage courts to activate RSS. The program office will 

continue to work with courts in expanding the use of RSS.

5. The Group’s recommendation regarding best practices for unsealing of search warrants will 

be addressed primarily through a communications effort. The AO created a Search Warrant 

Expert Panel to help establish best practices for courts to use for sealed court filings. The 

expert panel will review clerk’s office processes pertaining to search warrants to determine 

whether improvements in transparency could be made without compromising the safety 

and privacy of litigants and witnesses. The first phase of the review will examine the 

handling of filings before they are unsealed. The second phase will examine how clerk’s 

offices make unsealed search warrants available to the public. The expert panel will solicit 

input from the Public User Group during phase two of the review.

1 The EPA Public User Group’s recommendations can be found on pages 5 through 7 of the February 27-28, 2020 

Meeting Summary. 

2 This is one of the recommendations listed under Improve Existing Search Capabilities and only adds the 

functionality to PACER Case Locator and not to the CM/ECF applications.
3

6. The AO will soon begin a technical analysis of the Group’s recommendation that users be 

given the capability to download or view all or selected documents in a case. While users 

can turn on the functionality to select multiple documents while viewing the Docket Report, 

this is not available for other reports (such as the Document/History report in District and 

Bankruptcy CM/ECF). Users are not currently able to view/download all documents with a 

click of a button. The AO will determine the level of effort for development and a timeline 

for implementation of these features across all three court type applications. 

Recommendations Pending Further Analysis

1. The Committee on Court Administration and Case Management (CACM) considered two of 

the Group’s recommendations:

a. Adding “judge name” to PACER as a searchable field; and

b. Adding full text/free text search functionality to PACER.

The AO’s Electronic Public Access Working Group expressed support for the full text and/or 

free text search functionality so long as appropriate limitations could ensure the protection 

of individuals’ privacy. A report on the Committee’s action on that matter will be 

forthcoming in March 2021.

2. The Group’s remaining recommendations are under evaluation. Those recommendations 

requiring changes to CM/ECF will require additional time, and will only be made available in 

the NextGen CM/ECF systems.

Improving Notification of Services

The Group was briefed on improvements to how the AO notifies users of technical issues with 

PACER or CM/ECF. Notices of system upgrades and outages are being made more visible to 

users during login or while attempting the affected task(s).

Update on PACER.gov Project

The new PACER website launched on June 28, 2020. Continuing improvements are underway, 

including simplification of the layout and language on the pricing page. The new website allows 

the AO to track analytics that will lead to future improvements and help the AO prioritize 

continuous enhancements. 

EPA Services Assessment

The AO has begun its EPA Services Assessment initiative in partnership with Deloitte. A survey 

tool is being developed for administration early next year that will ask users to evaluate 

touchpoints, including PACER.gov, PACER Case Locator, public access terminals, and the Multicourt Voice Case Information System (McVCIS), and to recommend improvements. The AO will 

seek feedback from focus groups, and this Group, in the design of the survey. Going forward, 
4

the AO will move to a more dynamic assessment approach that enables it to obtain public 

feedback on a more continuous basis. 

Open Discussion

The AO announced the upcoming PACER Case Locator API release, and the virtual town hall for 

high volume users (conducted December 7, 2020). The town hall forum is used to obtain input 

on the API feature and ensure volunteers in upcoming API beta testing.

Members inquired whether the Public User Group would be sunset. The AO will take steps to 

make the Public User Group a standing group without a sunset date.

Members discussed improving the drop-down menus on court websites for criminal court case 

charges. This new recommendation will be evaluated along with the remaining 

recommendations made by the Group in February.

A member asked whether users could be allowed to see daily docket activity for free without 

accessing case filings. While this recommendation is not within the scope of the Group’s 

mission, the AO agreed to seek guidance on the suggestion from various offices within the AO 

and the EPA Working Group.

The AO will convene a meeting in early 2021 to review the status of the Group’s 

recommendations, discuss system updates, and address other matters of concern to the Group.