PACER and Federal Court Records: Access and Use
PACER — the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system — is the federal judiciary's primary platform for accessing civil, criminal, bankruptcy, and appellate case documents filed in United States federal courts. Operated by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the authority of the Judicial Conference of the United States, PACER covers more than 200 individual federal court jurisdictions. Understanding how the system works, what records it contains, and where its boundaries lie is essential for anyone conducting federal legal research or reviewing court filings.
Definition and scope
PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) is a fee-based electronic public access service authorized under 28 U.S.C. § 1913 note, which permits the federal judiciary to charge fees for electronic access to case information. The Judicial Conference of the United States sets the fee schedule; as of the fee structure established under the E-Government Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347), access is priced per page of document retrieved, with a per-page rate that the Judicial Conference adjusts periodically.
PACER provides access to records from three categories of federal court:
- U.S. District Courts — trial-level federal courts handling civil and criminal matters (covered in more detail at U.S. District Courts Explained)
- U.S. Courts of Appeals — the 13 circuit courts that review district court decisions (U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals)
- U.S. Bankruptcy Courts — courts handling cases filed under Title 11 of the U.S. Code
The U.S. Supreme Court is not part of PACER. Supreme Court filings are accessible separately through the Court's own electronic filing system, available at supremecourt.gov.
PACER does not provide access to state court records. State court document repositories are maintained independently by each state's judicial branch; for comparison, state court system structure describes how state-level record systems operate differently from the federal model.
How it works
Registration and authentication
Access to PACER requires registration through the PACER Service Center at pacer.uscourts.gov. Registration is free; charges accrue only when documents or dockets are retrieved. Each registered account receives a login credential valid across all participating federal courts through a centralized login system called the PACER Central Sign-on.
Fee structure and waivers
The Judicial Conference fee schedule (available at uscourts.gov) sets the per-page charge at $0.10 per page as of the most recent published schedule, with a per-document cap of $3.00 for most document types. Quarterly fees under $30.00 are waived automatically. Certain users — including federal agencies, federal public defenders, and courts themselves — receive no-cost access. Academic researchers may apply for fee exemptions through the PACER Service Center under a process governed by the Electronic Public Access Program.
Searching and retrieving records
PACER's interface allows searches by:
- Party name
- Case number
- Nature of suit code (a standardized classification system maintained by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts)
- Date range
- Attorney name or bar number
Each court's local PACER portal returns a docket sheet — a chronological index of all filings in a case. Individual documents linked on the docket sheet are retrieved separately, each generating a charge based on page count.
CM/ECF integration
PACER operates as the public-facing component of CM/ECF (Case Management/Electronic Case Files), the federal judiciary's internal case management system. Attorneys and pro se litigants file documents through CM/ECF; those documents become publicly viewable through PACER, subject to any sealing orders or redaction requirements imposed by the court under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 or the E-Government Act.
Common scenarios
Researching pending litigation
Journalists, litigants, and legal professionals use PACER to track active federal cases — pulling docket sheets to identify filed motions, scheduled hearings, and issued orders. This is among the most frequent use cases for the system.
Background and judgment searches
Creditors, employers conducting due diligence, and attorneys check PACER for records of federal civil judgments and bankruptcy filings associated with named individuals or entities. Bankruptcy case records, including schedules of assets and liabilities, are accessible through the bankruptcy court portals within PACER.
Appellate record review
Parties appealing decisions from U.S. district courts use PACER to retrieve the appellate record, including briefs, appendices, and orders issued by the circuit court. Understanding how to read a court opinion is a practical complement to pulling appellate documents through PACER.
Self-represented litigants
Self-represented litigants (pro se) use PACER to monitor their own cases and obtain copies of orders and rulings. Courts are not required to notify unregistered parties of electronic filings, making PACER registration functionally necessary for active litigants.
Decision boundaries
What PACER does and does not contain
| Category | In PACER | Outside PACER |
|---|---|---|
| Federal civil case dockets | ✓ | |
| Federal criminal case dockets | ✓ | |
| Bankruptcy filings | ✓ | |
| Sealed documents | ✗ (restricted) | |
| U.S. Supreme Court filings | ✗ | supremecourt.gov |
| State court records | ✗ | State court portals |
| Administrative agency records | ✗ | Agency FOIA portals |
Sealed and restricted records
Courts may seal entire cases or individual documents under protective orders, Local Rules, or statutory authority. Sealed records are not retrievable through PACER regardless of registration status. Motions to unseal are governed by First Amendment access doctrine and individual court Local Rules.
Redaction requirements
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 (28 U.S.C. § 2074) and corresponding Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1, filers are required to redact Social Security numbers (retaining only the last 4 digits), financial account numbers, dates of birth (retaining only the year), and names of minor children from publicly filed documents. PACER does not automatically apply redaction — responsibility lies with the filer.
PACER versus free alternatives
RECAP (a project of the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy, accessible at free.law) is a browser extension that uploads PACER documents to a free public archive. RECAP reduces costs for repeat researchers but does not provide complete coverage of all PACER content. The Government Publishing Office's govinfo.gov provides free access to certain federal court opinions, primarily from circuit courts and the Supreme Court, but does not replicate PACER's docket-level access.
References
- PACER Service Center — U.S. Courts
- PACER Fee Schedule — Judicial Conference of the United States
- E-Government Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107-347 — Congress.gov
- 28 U.S.C. § 1913 — U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel
- Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 — U.S. Courts
- Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1 — U.S. Courts
- Electronic Public Access Program — Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
- RECAP Archive — Free Law Project / Princeton CITP
- GovInfo Federal Court Opinions — Government Publishing Office