Federal courts agree to reimburse users of online service for excessive fees; legislation would resolve issue long-term

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has agreed to reimburse users of the Public Access to Electronic Court Records system for excessive fees they have paid. The head of the main lobby for rural newspapers hopes the deal will lead to passage of legislation that would limit the fees and make it easier and more affordable for rural journalists to use the PACER system.

Under the settlement with the National Veteran Legal Services Program, the National Consumer Law Center, and the Alliance for Justice, PACER users can be reimbursed for up to $350 for 10-cents-a-page fees paid between April 21, 2010, and May 31, 2018. Higher amounts could be paid if money is available; the settlement guarantees $125 million for reimbursements and legal costs.

The groups' lawsuit alleged that the fees had become a funding source for other programs that had nothing to do with PACER. Under the agreement, which is pending approval by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the court system will seek congressional appropriations for such programs, as it does for most of its budget, rather than relying on user fees to raise money.

Journalists and others who used PACER during the settlement period should watch for emails later this year with information on receiving reimbursement, National Newspaper Association Chair John Galer, publisher of the Hillsboro Journal-News in Illinois, said in a news release. Galer said the fees can be a barrier to the public’s right to know, and he urged Congress to pass a bill named the Open Courts Act, S 2614, by Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Ron Wyden of Oregon, which would limit the fees by law.

"Advocates for court transparency say the unusual case has put pressure on the judiciary to overhaul the system and prompted Congress to act," reports Ann Marimow of The Washington Post. "Lawmakers in the House passed a bipartisan bill to ensure free access to PACER, and a similar proposal passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last year. . . . A federal appeals court in 2020 upheld a lower court finding that the charge of 10 cents per page is 'higher than necessary to operate the system,' and the court limited fees to the amount needed to cover the cost of providing access online. . . . While the lawsuit was pending, the judiciary eliminated fees for about 75 percent of users and doubled the quarterly fee waiver to $30, according to court records."

Galer said, “This reimbursement for the past users is long overdue, but if Congress doesn’t set the ground rules, nothing in this lawsuit is going to prevent the same problem from happening again. The federal courts are a primary news source these days. They are dealing with hundreds of cases that involve public policy affecting Main Street and community newspaper readers. Reporters need to be able to see these records to report on the news affecting our towns. Maybe even more importantly, our readers need access so they can make sure that both the courts and our journalists are telling them what they need to know.”