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Open Courts Act of 2020

Introduced: December 9, 2020 See on congress.gov
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This bill died when the 116th Congress ended
It never became law before the 116th Congress (2019–2020) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Dec 9, 2020
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Dec 9, 2020
Introduced in Senate
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Open Courts Act of 2020

This bill requires the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to establish a single electronic system for all public court records that is publicly accessible for free. Under the existing Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system, users are charged fees for accessing court documents.

To fund the development of the new consolidated system, the Judicial Conference must temporarily establish a schedule of additional fees for higher-volume nongovernmental users of PACER.

To fund the operations of the new system, the Judicial Conference shall collect an annual fee from each federal agency equal to that agency's PACER fees in 2018, adjusted for inflation. The Judicial Conference may also establish reasonable filing fees based on specified factors, including the extent of a person's use and the interests of justice.

What's happening now December 9, 2020

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

 Related & companion bills 2
  • HR 8235 Related bill Open Courts Act of 2020
  • HR 6017 Related bill Twenty-First Century Courts Act
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Cosponsors 1
All 1 Democratic 1
D
Wyden, Ron
Oregon · Dec 9, 2020
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 4988: Open Courts Act of 2020. 116th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4988/
MLA
"S. 4988: Open Courts Act of 2020." 116th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4988/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 4988, 116th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4988/.
Markdown link
[S. 4988: Open Courts Act of 2020](https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4988/)
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