‘‘(c) The Judicial Conference shall review a schedule 
of fees prescribed under subsection (a) three years after 
it becomes effective and every three years thereafter to 
ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this section. 
If the fees do not meet the requirements of this section, 
the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new schedule of 
fees pursuant to subsection (a) and submit the new sched-
ule of fees to Congress pursuant to subsection (b). 
‘‘(d) Amounts deposited to the Judiciary Information 
Technology Fund pursuant to this section and not used 
to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 
of the Open Courts Act of 2021 may be used pursuant 
to section 612(a) of title 28, United States Code.’’. 
(B) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—The amendment 
made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 
the date specified in subsection (e). 
SEC. 3. PUBLIC ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS 
SYSTEM REQUIREMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date specified 
in subsection (d), the Director of the Administrative Office 
of the United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad-
ministrator of General Services, shall make all materials 
in the system established under section 2 publicly acces-
sible, free of charge. 
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(b) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In providing public ac-
cess under subsection (a), the Director shall, in coordina-
tion with the Administrator of General Services, use mod-
ern technology in order— 
(1) to improve security, data accessibility, ease 
of public access, affordability, and performance; and 
(2) to minimize the burden on pro se litigants. 
(c) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in this 
subsection is the date that is 2 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, unless the Administrator of 
General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 
90 days after such date of enactment, that an additional 
period of time is required. If the Administrator so cer-
tifies, the date specified in this subsection is the date that 
is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(d) FUNDING FOR PUBLIC ACCESS TO MODERNIZED 
ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS SYSTEM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Judiciary 
Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of Public Law 
102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 U.S.C. 1913 note) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c)(1) To cover the costs of ensuring the public ac-
cessibility, free of charge, of all materials in the system 
described under sections 2 and 3 of the Open Courts Act 
of 2021 in accordance with section 3 of such Act, the Judi-
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cial Conference shall collect an annual fee from Federal 
agencies equal to the Public Access to Court Electronic 
Records access fees paid by those agencies in 2018, as 
adjusted for inflation. All fees collected under this sub-
section shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the 
Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to sec-
tion 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reim-
burse expenses incurred in providing services in accord-
ance with section 3 of the Open Courts Act of 2021. 
‘‘(2) To cover any additional marginal costs of ensur-
ing the public accessibility, free of charge, of all materials 
in the system described under sections 2 and 3 of the 
Open Courts Act of 2021 in accordance with section 3 of 
such Act, the Judicial Conference may prescribe schedules 
of reasonable filing fees, pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 
1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code. 
The schedules— 
‘‘(A) shall be based on the extent of use of the 
system described under such section 2; 
‘‘(B) shall, in addition, be based on factors in-
cluding the nature of the type of action and claim 
for relief, the amount of damages demanded, the es-
timated complexity of the type of action, and the in-
terests of justice; 
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‘‘(C) may be prescribed for the filing of a coun-
terclaim; 
‘‘(D) shall not apply to a pro se litigant or a 
litigant who certifies their financial hardship; and 
‘‘(E) shall not be a basis for denying access to 
the courts of the United States. 
‘‘(3)(A) The Judicial Conference and the Director 
shall transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under this 
subsection to Congress at least 90 days before the sched-
ule becomes effective. All fees collected under this sub-
section shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the 
Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to sec-
tion 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reim-
burse expenses incurred in providing services in accord-
ance with section 3 of the Open Courts Act of 2021. 
‘‘(B) The Judicial Conference shall review a schedule 
of fees prescribed under this paragraph three years after 
it becomes effective and every three years thereafter to 
ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this para-
graph. If the fees do not meet the requirements of this 
paragraph, the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new 
schedule of fees pursuant to this paragraph and submit 
the new schedule of fees to Congress pursuant to subpara-
graph (A). 
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‘‘(C) Amounts deposited to the Judiciary Information 
Technology Fund pursuant to this subsection and not used 
to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 3 
of the Open Courts Act of 2021 may be used to reimburse 
expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 
Courts Act of 2021. Amounts not used to reimburse ex-
penses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 
Courts Act of 2021 may be used pursuant to section 
612(a) of title 28, United States Code.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by paragraph (1) shall take effect beginning on the 
date specified in subsection (d). 
SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 
Act, shall be construed to— 
(1) affect the filing fees or other filing proce-
dures for prisoners; or 
(2) abrogate, limit, or modify the requirements 
described in section 1915 of title 28, United States 
Code. 
SEC. 5. DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS. 
The system described under sections 2 and 3 of this 
Act or the amendments made by such sections shall com-
ply with relevant digital accessibility standards established 
pursuant to section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 
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