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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4667 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4667
To provide for the modernization of electronic case management systems,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 2, 2026
Mr. Kennedy (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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Open Courts Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION OF ELECTRONIC FEDERAL COURT RECORDS SYSTEMS.
(a) Consolidation.--
(1) Definitions.--
(A) Covered court.--In this subsection, the term
``covered court''--
(i) means--
(I) any Federal court in the
judicial branch of the United States
Government; and
(II) any Federal Court whose
records are accessible via the Public
Access to Court Electronic Records
service on the date of enactment of
this Act; and
(ii) does not include--
(I) the Supreme Court of the United
States;
(II) the court established under
section 502 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1532);
(III) the court established under
section 103(a) of the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
(50 U.S.C. 1803(a)); or
(IV) the court established under
section 103(b) of the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
(50 U.S.C. 1803(b)).
(B) Covered record.--The term ``covered record''
includes--
(i) all dockets of a covered court;
(ii) all documents filed in a covered
court, either by paper or electronically, and
reflected in a docket of a covered court;
(iii) all orders and opinions filed in a
docket of a covered court;
(iv) all audio recordings filed in a docket
of a covered court; and
(v) any other record identified by the
Director of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts whose publication in the
system created by this Act would serve to help
the public better understand the functioning of
the courts.
(2) Consolidation.--Not later than the date specified in
subsection (f), the Director of the Administrative Office of
the United States Courts, shall develop, deliver, operate, and
sustain, consistent with the requirements of this Act, a
centralized system with a separate public interface. In
carrying out these responsibilities, the Director may consult
with the Administrator of General Services.
(3) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection may
be construed to prohibit Federal courts that are not covered
courts from adopting the code created for the system described
under paragraph (2).
(b) Requirements of System.--The system described under subsection
(a) shall comply with the following requirements:
(1) The system shall provide search, bulk access, and
application programming interface functions for content and
metadata. In carrying out these responsibilities, the Director
may consult with the Administrator of General Services.
(2) The system shall make covered records automatically
accessible, in accordance with the E-Government Act of 2002 (44
U.S.C. 3501 note), to the public upon filing, or in the case of
previously sealed records, after unsealing.
(3) The home page for public access to the system shall
include a notice displayed to first-time visitors, as
determined through a mechanism that does not require
registration or impose a fee, that users will not use the
system for an unlawful purpose. Access to documents through
other means, including under paragraph (6), may not be
conditioned upon acknowledging such notice.
(4) Any information published pursuant to paragraph (4),
(5), or (6) of section 205(a) or section 205(c)(1) of the E-
Government Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) shall be included
in the system or linked to prominently.
(5) Any information published pursuant to any provision of
section 205 of the E-Government Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501
note) not described in paragraph (4) shall be accessible via
links from the system. Each website established pursuant to
that section shall contain a link to the system.
(6) Any website for the system shall substantially comply
with the requirements under subsections (b) and (c) of section
205 of the E-Government Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note).
(7) The system shall enable external websites to be able to
link to documents on the system via permanent, predictable
URLs. The system shall not unduly restrict automated tools from
accessing, indexing, and archiving such documents.
(8) The system may enable courts to automatically generate
and submit, in a computer-readable format, the reports required
by sections 2519(1) and 3103a(d)(1) of title 18, United States
Code.
(9) The system shall at all times comply with the Judiciary
Information Security Framework.
(10) For bankruptcy notices provided in accordance with the
Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, the system may provide
bankruptcy notices electronically.
(11) The system shall create a machine-readable neutral
citation for all orders, opinions, and decisions made available
through the system. The citations shall take the format of the
year of the filing of the document, an abbreviated court name,
and a serial number for the document.
(12) The system shall enable users to receive automatic
notifications of new covered records in specific cases or cases
that match particular search criteria, using industry-standard
notification technologies identified by the Director of the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
(13) Consistent with the best practices outlined in OMB
Memorandum M-16-21 or a successor document, the Director of the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts may enable
other Federal, state and territorial, local and tribal
government entities, and nonprofit organizations supporting
those entities, to access and reuse the code for the system. It
should be taken into consideration that contracts related to
the development of custom code acquire and enforce rights
sufficient to enable reuse of that custom-developed code.
(c) Development Standards.--The system described under subsection
(a) shall be developed with the following principles:
(1) User-centered design, including--
(A) research with end users of the system such as
users within the judiciary, attorney and pro se filers,
the media, academic researchers, and the public; and
(B) product development practices such as formal
and continuous feedback loops and a publicly available
backlog.
(2) Modern software development such as frequent
deployments, short cycle times, and integrated development,
security, and operations.
(3) Modern, flexible, and open-source software architecture
focused on enabling future changes, data portability, software
modularity and maintainability, and the use of application
programming interfaces to enable public access to data.
(d) Data Standards.--
(1) Establishment of data standards.--The Director of the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall
establish data standards for the system established under
subsection (a). In carrying out these responsibilities, the
Director may consult with the Administrator of General Services
and the Archivist of the United States.
(2) Requirements.--The data standards established under
paragraph (1) shall, to the extent reasonable and practicable--
(A) incorporate widely accepted common data
elements;
(B) incorporate a widely accepted, nonproprietary,
full text searchable, platform-independent computer-
readable format; and
(C) be capable of being continually upgraded as
necessary.
(3) Deadlines.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Administrative
Office of the United States Courts shall issue guidance to all
covered courts, as defined in subsection (a), on the data
standards established under this subsection.
(e) Use of Technology.--In carrying out the duties under subsection
(a), the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts shall use modern technology--
(1) to improve security, data accessibility, data quality,
affordability, and performance; and
(2) to minimize the burden on pro se litigants.
(f) Date Specified.--The date specified in this subsection is the
date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, unless
the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts
certifies to Congress, by not later than 4 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, that an additional period of time is required.
If the Director so certifies, the date specified in this subsection is
the date that is 6 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. FUNDS FOR DEVELOPMENT, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF MODERNIZED
COURT RECORDS SYSTEM.
(a) Short Term Increased Access Fees for High-Volume Users To Fund
the Development of the Modernized Court Records System.--
(1) In general.--Section 303 of the Judiciary
Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of Public Law 102-140; 105
Stat. 807) (28 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) in the first sentence, by striking
``(a) The'' and inserting ``(a) (1) The''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Not later than 210 days after the date of enactment of the
Open Courts Act of 2026, the Judicial Conference shall prescribe, after
providing public notice and an opportunity for public comment, a
schedule of additional fees for any person other than a government
agency that accrues such fees for access in an amount of $25,000 or
greater in any quarter or uses bulk-access functions. All fees
collected under the preceding sentence shall be deposited as offsetting
collections to the Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to
section 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code.''; and
(B) in subsection (b), in the second sentence, by
striking ``All'' and inserting ``Except as otherwise
provided in this section, all''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Long Term Funding for the Operation and Maintenance of the
Modernized Court Records System and Other Public Access Programs.--
(1) In general.--Section 303 of the Judiciary
Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of Public Law 102-140; 105
Stat. 807) (28 U.S.C. 1913 note), as amended by subsection
(a)(1) of this section, is amended by striking subsections (a)
and (b) and inserting the following:
``(a) In this section--
``(1) the term `annual covered costs' means for each fiscal
year, the total of--
``(A) the cost of operating and maintaining the
system described under section 2 of the Open Courts Act
of 2026; and
``(B) the covered public access program costs;
``(2) the term `covered public access program costs' means
the portion of the Public Access to Court Electronic Records
access fees used by the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts for other public access programs, in the full
fiscal year preceding the date of enactment of the Open Courts
Act of 2026, as adjusted for inflation; and
``(b) To generate revenue to offset the annual covered costs, the
Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall
collect an annual fee from Federal agencies equal to the Public Access
to Court Electronic Records access fees paid by those agencies in the
full fiscal year preceding the date of enactment of the Open Courts Act
of 2026, as adjusted for inflation.
``(c) If the revenue generated in the first full fiscal year after
the implementation of the fees under subsection (b) is not sufficient
to offset the annual covered costs, the Judicial Conference shall,
after providing public notice and an opportunity for public comment,
prescribe schedules of reasonable filing fees, pursuant to sections
1913, 1914, 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States Code,
that--
``(1) shall be based on factors to ensure that such
schedules are graduated, including the cause of action and
claim for relief, the status of the filer in the action and the
financial hardship an additional fee would place on the filer,
the amount of damages demanded, the estimated complexity of the
type of action, and the interests of justice;
``(2) may be prescribed for the filing of a counterclaim;
``(3) shall not apply to a filer (other than a filer who is
required by Federal law to pay filing fees, including under
section 1915 of title 28, United States Code) who certifies
that their adjusted gross income was less than $250,000,
adjusted for inflation, based on their total income from the
previous calendar year;
``(4) shall not be a basis for denying access to the courts
of the United States; and
``(5) a court, upon motion, may waive in the interest of
justice.
``(d) All fees collected under this section shall be deposited as
offsetting collections to the Judiciary Information Technology Fund
pursuant to section 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, and
may only be used to reimburse expenses incurred carrying out the Open
Courts Act of 2026, for other public access programs (not to exceed the
amount of covered public access program costs), and not for any other
purpose.
``(e) The Judicial Conference and the Director shall transmit each
schedule of fees prescribed under this section to Congress at least 90
days before the schedule becomes effective. The Judicial Conference
shall review a schedule of fees prescribed under this section 3 years
after the schedule becomes effective and every 3 years thereafter to
ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this subsection. If the
fees do not meet the requirements of this subsection, the Judicial
Conference shall prescribe a new schedule of fees pursuant to this
subsection and submit the new schedule of fees to Congress.
``(f) If at the end of a fiscal year, the Judiciary Information
Technology Fund contains more than $50,000,000 in funds that have not
already been obligated to be spent in the next fiscal year, generated
through the fees prescribed under this subsection--
``(1) all excess funds over $50,000,000 shall be
transferred to the general fund of the Treasury;
``(2) notice of this fact and the amount transferred to the
Treasury shall be published on the public website of the
Administrative Office of United States Courts; and
``(3) the Judicial Conference shall within 210 days review
the fee schedule to reduce the excess revenue generated.
``(g)(1) No fees may be charged to access any functionality of the
system created under section 2 of the Open Courts Act of 2026.
``(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) may be construed to prohibit the
collection of fees from agencies under subsection (a).''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect on the date specified in section 2(f).
SEC. 4. DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY AND MOBILE-FRIENDLY DESIGN STANDARDS.
The system described under this Act shall comply with--
(1) relevant digital accessibility standards established
pursuant to section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
U.S.C. 794d); and
(2) section 3559 of title 44, United States Code, if the
system were operated by an agency in the executive branch.
SEC. 5. GOVERMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall notify Congress whether the Director of the
Administrative Office of United States Courts has--
(1) produced additional usable functionality of the system
described under section 2 of this Act; and
(2) allowed the Comptroller General or a designee to attend
all sprint reviews held during the applicable period.
(b) Audit.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall--
(1) conduct an audit of the system established under this
Act, including the compliance of vendors with the quality
assessment surveillance plan, code quality, and whether the
system is meeting the needs of users; and
(2) provide a briefing to Congress that contains--
(A) the results of the audit; and
(B) any recommendations to improve the system
established under this Act.
(c) Sunset.--This section is effective beginning on the date of
enactment of this Act and ending on the date that is 10 years after the
date specified in section 2(f).
SEC. 6. CYBERSECURITY REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--The Director of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts shall ensure the cybersecurity of the system
described under section 2 of this Act in consultation with the relevant
cybersecurity expert agencies in the executive branch and consistent
with the relevant cybersecurity laws (including regulations), policies,
and standards that would apply if the system would be operated by an
agency in the executive branch, including section 225(b)(1)(D) of the
Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. 1523(b)(1)(D)).
(b) Waiver.--The Director of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts may waive an executive branch cybersecurity
requirement if--
(1) the requirement would be infeasible to implement or
result in the executive branch gaining access to confidential
or nonpublic judicial branch information; and
(2) the Director--
(A) takes alternative actions to mitigate the
cybersecurity risks that the requirement would address;
and
(B) not less frequently than annually--
(i) notifies the congressional committees
described in section 205(g)(2) of the E-
Government Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) of
the nature of any exceptions and alternative
actions implemented; and
(ii) certifies that the intent of the
requirement has been achieved through alternate
means.
(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall require
the judicial branch to provide the executive branch with privileged
access to any judicial branch information system.
SEC. 7. UPDATES TO THE E-GOVERNMENT ACT OF 2002.
Section 205(b) of the E-Government Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501
note) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
``(2) Closed cases.--
``(A) In general.--Electronic files and docket
information for closed cases shall be made available
online until the later of--
``(i) 15 years after the date on which the
case is closed; and
``(ii) the date on which the electronic
files and docket information are transferred to
the National Archives.
``(B) Written opinions.--All written opinions
issued after the date of enactment of this section
shall remain available online unless otherwise redacted
by court order.''.
SEC. 8. PROVISION OF SERVICES BY THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.
Upon the request of the Director of the Administrative Office of
the United States Courts, the Administrator of General Services may
provide to the Administrative Office, on a reimbursable basis,
administrative and technical support services, or information
technology products and platforms.
SEC. 9. ELECTRONIC BANKRUPTCY NOTICES.
Section 342 of title 11, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (e)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``electronic''
before ``address''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``electronic''
after ``provided to such''; and
(2) in subsection (f)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``electronic''
after ``of''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``electronic''
after ``provided to such''.
SEC. 10. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be
construed to--
(1) affect the filing fees or other filing procedures for
prisoners;
(2) abrogate, limit, or modify the requirements described
in section 1915 of title 28, United States Code;
(3) limit or impair the right of public access to judicial
records or any right of public access to information otherwise
provided by law; or
(4) mandate the disclosure of information that is lawfully
sealed or otherwise restricted from public access by Federal
law.
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