I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4176 
To direct the Judicial Conference to provide electronic public access to exhibits 
in Federal cases, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 9, 2019 
Mr. CICILLINE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To direct the Judicial Conference to provide electronic public 
access to exhibits in Federal cases, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Access to Courts 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC PUBLIC ACCESS TO EXHIBITS IN FED-
ERAL CASES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, and except as provided in 
subsection (b), the Judicial Conference of the United 
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States shall establish a pilot program to ensure that exhib-
its in Federal cases before 5 Federal courts selected by 
the Director and any additional Federal district court that 
elects to participate are accessible through such online 
portal as the Judicial Conference may designate for the 
pilot project established under this Act. 
(b) EXEMPTION FROM ELECTRONIC PUBLIC AC-
CESS.—This Act shall not apply to the following exhibits: 
(1) Exhibits that cannot be digitized. 
(2) Exhibits concerning matters that are ex-
empt from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, 
United States Code. 
(3) Exhibits exempt from disclosure under Rule 
25(a)(5) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Proce-
dure. 
(4) Exhibits exempt from disclosure under Rule 
5.2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 
(5) Exhibits exempt from disclosure under Rule 
49.1 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. 
(6) Exhibits exempt from disclosure under Rule 
9037 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. 
(7) Exhibits that have been sealed by the pre-
siding judge. 
(8) Exhibits that a presiding judge determines 
the public disclosure of which would likely interfere 
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with a fair trial or otherwise the due administration 
of justice. 
(9) Exhibits that are otherwise exempt from 
public disclosure under any other provision of Fed-
eral or State law. 
(c) APPLICABILITY OF EXEMPTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The determination of the ap-
plicability of subsection (b) to an exhibit shall be 
made by the presiding judge. With respect to the ap-
plicability of the exemption described in paragraph 
(2), (3), (4), (5), or (6) of subsection (b), the pre-
siding judge must determine that it is reasonably 
foreseeable that the disclosure of the exhibit would 
harm an interest protected by the relevant provision. 
(2) REDACTED EXHIBITS.—With respect to an 
exhibit exempted from disclosure under subsection 
(b)(2), any reasonably segregable portion of the ex-
hibit shall be made available on the online portal es-
tablished under subsection (a), in accordance with 
the procedures described at the end of section 
552(b) of title 5, United States Code. 
(3) DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION.—With respect to 
an exhibit exempted from disclosure under para-
graph (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), or (9) of subsection 
(b), a descriptive notation of the exhibit shall be 
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made available, consistent with any requirement 
under law regarding limitation on disclosure, on the 
online portal established under subsection (a). 
SEC. 3. RULEMAKING. 
The Judicial Conference of the United States may 
promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to imple-
ment this Act. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) DIGITIZED.—The term ‘‘digitized’’ means 
converted into a digital form that can be processed 
by a computer. 
(2) EXHIBIT.—The term ‘‘exhibit’’ means a 
document, record, or other tangible object intro-
duced as evidence during a trial, and that, in accord-
ance with the Federal Rules of Evidence, is identi-
fied or authenticated, and admitted into the record, 
and does not include any portion of such document, 
record, or tangible object that was not so admitted. 
(3) PRESIDING JUDGE.—The term ‘‘presiding 
judge’’ means the magistrate or judge presiding over 
the court proceeding concerned. In proceedings in 
which more than 1 judge participates, the presiding 
judge shall be the senior active judge so partici-
pating or, in the case of a circuit court of appeals, 
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the senior active circuit judge so participating, ex-
cept that in en banc sittings of any United States 
circuit court of appeals, the presiding judge shall be 
the chief judge of the circuit whenever the chief 
judge participates. 
SEC. 5. TERMINATION; REPORT. 
(a) TERMINATION.—This Act and the pilot program 
established under this Act shall terminate on the date that 
is 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the ter-
mination of the pilot program established under this Act, 
the Federal Judicial Center shall submit to the Judicial 
Conference of the United States, Congress, and any other 
appropriate Federal agency or office, a report that con-
tains the results of the pilot program, along with any rec-
ommendations for improving public electronic access to 
Federal court exhibits. 
Æ 
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