Open Courts Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4988 To provide for the modernization of electronic case management systems, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 9, 2020 Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for the modernization of electronic case management systems, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Courts Act of 4 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION OF ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS 6 SYSTEMS. 7 (a) CONSOLIDATION.—Not later than the date speci- 8 fied in subsection (e), the Director of the Administrative 9 Office of the United States Courts, in coordination with 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4988 IS the Administrator of General Services, shall develop, de- 1 liver, and sustain, consistent with the requirements of this 2 section and section 3, one system for all public court 3 records. 4 (b) REQUIREMENTS OF SYSTEM.—The system de- 5 scribed under subsection (a) shall comply with the fol- 6 lowing requirements: 7 (1) The system shall provide search functions, 8 developed in coordination with the Administrator of 9 General Services, for use by the public and by par- 10 ties before the court. 11 (2) The system shall make public court records 12 automatically accessible to the public upon filing. 13 (3) Any information made available through a 14 website established pursuant to section 205 of the 15 E–Government Act of 2002 shall be included in the 16 system. 17 (4) Any website for the system shall substan- 18 tially comply with the requirements under sub- 19 sections (b) and (c) of section 205 of the E–Govern- 20 ment Act of 2002. 21 (5) To the extent practicable, external websites 22 shall be able to link to documents on the system. 23 Each website established pursuant to section 205 of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4988 IS the E–Government Act of 2002 shall contain a link 1 to the system. 2 (c) DATA STANDARDS.— 3 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATA STANDARDS.— 4 The Director of the Administrative Office of the 5 United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad- 6 ministrator of General Services and the Archivist of 7 the United States, shall establish data standards for 8 the system established under subsection (a). 9 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The data standards es- 10 tablished under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent 11 reasonable and practicable— 12 (A) incorporate widely accepted common 13 data elements; 14 (B) incorporate a widely accepted, non- 15 proprietary, full text searchable, platform-inde- 16 pendent computer-readable format; and 17 (C) be capable of being continually up- 18 graded as necessary. 19 (3) DEADLINES.—Not later than 6 months 20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 21 of the Administrative Office of the United States 22 Courts shall issue guidance to all Federal courts on 23 the data standards established under this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4988 IS (d) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In carrying out the du- 1 ties under subsection (a), the Director shall use modern 2 technology in order— 3 (1) to improve security, data accessibility, data 4 quality, affordability, and performance; and 5 (2) to minimize the burden on pro se litigants. 6 (e) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in this 7 subsection is the date that is 2 years after the date of 8 the enactment of this Act, unless the Administrator of 9 General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 10 90 days after such date of enactment, that an additional 11 period of time is required. If the Administrator so cer- 12 tifies, the date specified in this subsection is the date that 13 is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 14 (f) FUNDS FOR ESTABLISHMENT, OPERATION, AND 15 MAINTENANCE OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS SYS- 16 TEM.— 17 (1) SHORT TERM ACCESS FEES TO FUND ES- 18 TABLISHMENT OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS 19 SYSTEM.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Ju- 21 diciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of 22 Public Law 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 23 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4988 IS (i) in subsection (a), by inserting 1 ‘‘The Judicial Conference shall prescribe a 2 schedule of additional fees for any person 3 other than a government agency who ac- 4 crues such fees for access in an amount of 5 $25,000 or greater in any quarter. All fees 6 collected shall be deposited as offsetting 7 collections to the Judiciary Information 8 Technology Fund pursuant to section 9 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States 10 Code, to reimburse expenses incurred in 11 carrying out section 2 of the Open Courts 12 Act of 2020.’’ before ‘‘The Director of the 13 Administrative Office of the United States 14 Courts’’; and 15 (ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘All 16 fees hereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as 17 otherwise provided in this section, all fees 18 hereafter’’. 19 (B) EXCESS FEES.—Amounts deposited in 20 the Judiciary Information Technology Fund 21 pursuant to the amendments made by subpara- 22 graph (A) and not used to reimburse expenses 23 incurred in carrying out section 2 of this Act 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4988 IS may be used pursuant to section 612(a) of title 1 28, United States Code. 2 (C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 3 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 4 the date of enactment of this Act. 5 (2) FILING FEES TO FUND OPERATION AND 6 MAINTENANCE OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS 7 SYSTEM.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Ju- 9 diciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of 10 Public Law 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 11 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended by striking sub- 12 sections (a) and (b), and inserting the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(a) To cover the costs of carrying out section 2 of 15 the Open Courts Act of 2020, the Judicial Conference 16 may, only to the extent necessary, prescribe schedules of 17 reasonable filing fees, pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 18 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code, 19 which— 20 ‘‘(1) shall be based on the extent of use of the 21 system described under such section 2 for purposes 22 of such action; 23 ‘‘(2) shall in addition be based on factors in- 24 cluding the nature of the action and claim for relief, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4988 IS the amount of damages demanded, the estimated 1 complexity of the type of action, and the interests of 2 justice; 3 ‘‘(3) may be prescribed for the filing of a coun- 4 terclaim; 5 ‘‘(4) shall not apply in the case of a pro se liti- 6 gant or litigant who certifies their financial hard- 7 ship; and 8 ‘‘(5) shall not be a basis for denying access to 9 the courts of the United States. 10 ‘‘(b) The Judicial Conference and the Director shall 11 transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under subsection 12 (a) to Congress at least 90 days before the schedule be- 13 comes effective. All fees collected under subsection (a) 14 shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the Judiciary 15 Information Technology Fund pursuant to section 16 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reimburse 17 expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 18 Courts Act of 2020. 19 ‘‘(c) The Judicial Conference shall review a schedule 20 of fees prescribed under subsection (a) three years after 21 it becomes effective and every three years thereafter to 22 ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this section. 23 If the fees do not meet the requirements of this section, 24 the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new schedule of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4988 IS fees pursuant to subsection (a) and submit the new sched- 1 ule of fees to Congress pursuant to subsection (b). 2 ‘‘(d) Amounts deposited to the Judiciary Information 3 Technology Fund pursuant to this section and not used 4 to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 5 of the Open Courts Act of 2020 may be used pursuant 6 to section 612(a) of title 28, United States Code.’’. 7 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 8 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 9 the date specified in subsection (e). 10 SEC. 3. PUBLIC ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS 11 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date specified 13 in subsection (d), the Director of the Administrative Office 14 of the United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad- 15 ministrator of General Services, shall make all materials 16 in the system established under section 2 publicly acces- 17 sible, free of charge. 18 (b) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In providing public ac- 19 cess under subsection (a), the Director shall, in coordina- 20 tion with the Administrator of General Services, use mod- 21 ern technology in order— 22 (1) to improve security, data accessibility, ease 23 of public access, affordability, and performance; and 24 (2) to minimize the burden on pro se litigants. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4988 IS (c) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in this 1 subsection is the date that is 2 years after the date of 2 the enactment of this Act, unless the Administrator of 3 General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 4 90 days after such date of enactment, that an additional 5 period of time is required. If the Administrator so cer- 6 tifies, the date specified in this subsection is the date that 7 is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 8 (d) FUNDING FOR PUBLIC ACCESS TO MODERNIZED 9 ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS SYSTEM.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Judiciary 11 Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of Public Law 12 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 U.S.C. 1913 note) is 13 amended by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(c)(1) To cover the costs of ensuring the public ac- 15 cessibility, free of charge, of all materials in the system 16 described under sections 2 and 3 of the Open Courts Act 17 of 2020 in accordance with section 3 of such Act, the Judi- 18 cial Conference shall collect an annual fee from Federal 19 agencies equal to the Public Access to Court Electronic 20 Records access fees paid by those agencies in 2018, as 21 adjusted for inflation. All fees collected under this sub- 22 section shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the 23 Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to sec- 24 tion 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reim- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Dec 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4988 IS burse expenses incurred in providing services in accord- 1 ance with section 3 of the Open Courts Act of 2020. 2 ‘‘(2) To cover any additional marginal costs of ensur- 3 ing the public accessibility, free of charge, of all materials 4 in the system described under sections 2 and 3 of the 5 Open Courts Act of 2020 in accordance with section 3 of 6 such Act, the Judicial Conference may prescribe schedules 7 of reasonable filing fees, pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 8 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code. 9 The schedules— 10 ‘‘(A) shall be based on the extent of use of the 11 system described under such section 2; 12 ‘‘(B) shall, in addition, be based on factors in- 13 cluding the nature of the type of action and claim 14 for relief, the amount of damages demanded, the es- 15 timated complexity of the type of action, and the in- 16 terests of justice; 17 ‘‘(C) may be prescribed for the filing of a coun- 18 terclaim; 19 ‘‘(D) shall not apply to a pro se litigant or a 20 litigant who certifies their financial hardship; and 21 ‘‘(E) shall not be a basis for denying access to 22 the courts of the United States. 23 ‘‘(3)(A) The Judicial Conference and the Director 24 shall transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4988 IS subsection to Congress at least 90 days before the sched- 1 ule becomes effective. All fees collected under this sub- 2 section shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the 3 Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to sec- 4 tion 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reim- 5 burse expenses incurred in providing services in accord- 6 ance with section 3 of the Open Courts Act of 2020. 7 ‘‘(B) The Judicial Conference shall review a schedule 8 of fees prescribed under this paragraph three years after 9 it becomes effective and every three years thereafter to 10 ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this para- 11 graph. If the fees do not meet the requirements of this 12 paragraph, the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new 13 schedule of fees pursuant to this paragraph and submit 14 the new schedule of fees to Congress pursuant to subpara- 15 graph (A). 16 ‘‘(C) Amounts deposited to the Judiciary Information 17 Technology Fund pursuant to this subsection and not used 18 to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 3 19 of the Open Courts Act of 2020 may be used to reimburse 20 expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 21 Courts Act of 2020. Amounts not used to reimburse ex- 22 penses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 23 Courts Act of 2020 may be used pursuant to section 24 612(a) of title 28, United States Code.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4988.IS S4988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4988 IS (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 1 by paragraph (1) shall take effect beginning on the 2 date specified in subsection (d). 3 SE [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]