G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML ..................................................................... (Original Signature of Member) H. R. ll 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION To provide for the modernization of electronic case management systems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself and Mr. COLLINS of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on lllllllllllllll A BILL To provide for the modernization of electronic case management systems, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Courts Act of 5 2020’’. g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 2 1 SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION OF ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS 2 3 SYSTEMS. (a) CONSOLIDATION.—Not later than the date speci- 4 fied in subsection (e), the Director of the Administrative 5 Office of the United States Courts, in coordination with 6 the Administrator of General Services, shall establish, 7 maintain, and operate, consistent with the requirements 8 of this section and section 3, one system for all public 9 court records. 10 (b) REQUIREMENTS OF SYSTEM.—The system devel- 11 oped under subsection (a) shall comply with the following 12 requirements: 13 (1) The system shall provide search functions, 14 developed in coordination with the Administrator of 15 General Services, by the public and by parties before 16 the court. 17 (2) Any information that is prohibited from 18 public disclosure by law or court order shall be re- 19 dacted. 20 (3) Any information made available through a 21 website established pursuant to section 205 of the 22 E–Government Act of 2002 shall be included in the 23 system. 24 (4) Any website for the system shall substan- 25 tially comply with the requirements under sub- g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 3 1 sections (b) and (c) of section 205 of the E–Govern- 2 ment Act of 2002. 3 (5) To the extent practicable, external websites 4 shall be able to link to documents on the system. 5 Each website established pursuant to section 205 of 6 the E–Government Act of 2002 shall contain a link 7 to the system. 8 (c) DATA STANDARDS.— 9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT 10 The Director of the Administrative Office of the 11 United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad- 12 ministrator of General Services and the Archivist of 13 the United States, shall establish data standards for 14 the system established under subsection (a). 15 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The data standards es- 16 tablished under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent 17 reasonable and practicable— 18 (A) incorporate widely accepted common 19 data elements; 20 (B) incorporate a widely accepted, non- 21 proprietary, full text searchable, platform-inde- 22 pendent computer-readable format; and 23 (C) be capable of being continually up- 24 graded as necessary. g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 OF DATA STANDARDS.— 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 4 1 (3) DEADLINES.—Not later than 6 months 2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 3 of the Administrative Office of the United States 4 Courts shall issue guidance to all Federal courts on 5 the data standards established under this section. 6 (d) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In developing the system 7 under subsection (a), the Director shall use modern tech8 nology in order— 9 (1) to improve security, data accessibility, af- 10 fordability, and performance; and 11 (2) to minimize the burden on pro se litigants. 12 (e) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in this 13 subsection is the date that is 2 years after the date of 14 the enactment of this Act, unless the Administrator of 15 General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 16 90 days after such date of enactment, that an additional 17 period of time is required. If the Administrator so cer18 tifies, the date specified in this subsection is the date that 19 is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 20 (f) FUNDS 21 MAINTENANCE 22 OF ESTABLISHMENT, OPERATION, AND MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS SYS- TEM.— 23 (1) SHORT TERM ACCESS FEES TO FUND ES- 24 TABLISHMENT OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS 25 SYSTEM.— g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 FOR 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 5 1 (A) IN 303 of the Ju- 2 diciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of 3 Public Law 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 4 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended— 5 (i) in subsection (a), by inserting 6 ‘‘The Judicial Conference shall prescribe a 7 schedule of additional fees for any person 8 who accrues such fees for access in an 9 amount of $25,000 or greater in any quar- 10 ter. All fees collected shall be deposited as 11 offsetting collections to the Judiciary In- 12 formation Technology Fund pursuant to 13 section 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United 14 States Code, to reimburse expenses in- 15 curred in carrying out section 2 of the 16 Open Courts Act of 2020.’’ before ‘‘The 17 Director of the Administrative Office of 18 the United States Courts’’; and 19 (ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘All 20 fees hereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as 21 otherwise provided in this section, all fees 22 hereafter’’. 23 (B) EXCESS FEES.—Amounts deposited in 24 the Judiciary Information Technology Fund 25 pursuant to the amendments made by subpara- g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 GENERAL.—Section 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 6 1 graph (A) and not used to reimburse expenses 2 incurred in carrying out section 2 of this Act 3 may be used pursuant to section 612(a) of title 4 28, United States Code. 5 (C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 6 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 7 the date of enactment of this Act. 8 (2) FILING 9 10 FEES TO FUND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF MODERNIZED COURT RECORDS SYSTEM.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Ju- 12 diciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of 13 Public Law 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 14 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended by striking sub- 15 sections (a) and (b), and inserting the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(a) To cover the costs of carrying out section 2 of 18 the Open Courts Act of 2020, the Judicial Conference 19 may, only to the extent necessary— 20 ‘‘(1) prescribe reasonable filing fees, pursuant 21 to sections 1913, 1914, 1926, 1930, and 1932 of 22 title 28, United States Code, for collection by the 23 courts under those sections, which— 24 ‘‘(A) shall be based on the extent of the 25 use by the person filing of the system estab- g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 7 1 lished under such section 2 for purposes of such 2 action; 3 ‘‘(B) shall in addition be adjusted based on 4 factors including the nature of the action and 5 claim for relief, the amount of damages de- 6 manded, the estimated complexity of the type of 7 action, and the interests of justice; and 8 ‘‘(C) may be prescribed for the filing of a 9 counterclaim; 10 ‘‘(D) shall not apply in the case of a pro 11 se litigant or litigant who certifies their finan- 12 cial hardship; and 13 ‘‘(2) prescribe a reasonable fee for the filing of 14 a proof of claim or interest under Rule 3002 and 15 Rule 3003 of the Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, 16 which may be adjusted proportionately to the 17 amount of the claim, the status of the claim, and the 18 type of proceeding in which the claim is filed, and 19 interests of justice, 20 ‘‘(b) The Judicial Conference and the Director shall 21 transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under subsection 22 (a) to Congress at least 90 days before the schedule be23 comes effective. All fees collected under subsection (a) 24 shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the Judiciary 25 Information Technology Fund pursuant to section g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 8 1 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reimburse 2 expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 3 Courts Act of 2020. 4 ‘‘(c) The Judicial Conference shall review a schedule 5 of fees prescribed under subsection (a) three years after 6 it becomes effective and every three years thereafter to 7 ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this section. 8 If the fees do not meet the requirements of this section, 9 the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new schedule of 10 fees pursuant to subsection (a) and submit the new sched11 ule of fees to Congress pursuant to subsection (b). 12 ‘‘(d) Amounts deposited to the Judiciary Information 13 Technology Fund pursuant to this section and not used 14 to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 15 of the Open Courts Act of 2020 may be used pursuant 16 to section 612(a) of title 28, United States Code.’’. 17 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 18 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 19 the date specified in subsection (e). 20 SEC. 3. PUBLIC ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS 21 22 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT. (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date specified 23 in subsection (d), the Director of the Administrative Office 24 of the United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad25 ministrator of General Services, shall make all materials g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 9 1 in the system established under section 2 publicly acces2 sible, free of charge. 3 4 (b) AUTHORITY LIC ACCESS TO FOR SHORT TERM DELAYS OF PUB- CERTAIN RECORDS.—The Judicial Con- 5 ference, after appropriate public notice and opportunity 6 for comment, may designate categories of records which 7 are not automatically made publicly accessible under sub8 section (a). Any such category shall be no broader than 9 necessary, based on a determination of a specific and sub10 stantial interest in restricting the public right of access 11 to court records, and subject to no more than a 5 day 12 delay before being made publicly accessible under sub13 section (a). Any such designation shall expire after 3 years 14 unless renewed pursuant to the requirements of this sub15 section. 16 (c) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In providing public ac- 17 cess under subsection (a), the Director shall, in coordina18 tion with the Administrator of General Services, use mod19 ern technology in order— 20 (1) to improve security, data accessibility, ease 21 of public access, affordability, and performance; and 22 (2) to minimize the burden on pro se litigants. 23 (d) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in this 24 subsection is the date that is 2 years after the date of 25 the enactment of this Act, unless the Administrator of g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 10 1 General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 2 90 days after such date of enactment, that an additional 3 period of time is required. If the Administrator so cer4 tifies, the date specified in this subsection is the date that 5 is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 6 (e) FUNDING FOR PUBLIC ACCESS TO MODERNIZED 7 ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS SYSTEM.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Judiciary 9 Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of Public Law 10 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 U.S.C. 1913 note) is 11 amended by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(c)(1) To cover the costs of ensuring the public ac- 13 cessibility, free of charge, of all materials in the system 14 established under section 2 of the Open Courts Act of 15 2020 in accordance with section 3 of such Act, the Judi16 cial Conference shall collect an annual fee from the De17 partment of Justice equal to the Public Access to Court 18 Electronic Records access fees paid by the Department of 19 Justice in 2018, as adjusted for inflation. All fees collected 20 under this subsection shall be deposited as offsetting col21 lections to the Judiciary Information Technology Fund 22 pursuant to section 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States 23 Code, to reimburse expenses incurred in providing services 24 in accordance with section 3 of the Open Courts Act of 25 2020. g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 11 1 ‘‘(2) To cover any additional marginal costs of ensur- 2 ing the public accessibility, free of charge, of all materials 3 in the system established under section 2 of the Open 4 Courts Act of 2020 in accordance with section 3 of such 5 Act, the Judicial Conference may prescribe reasonable fil6 ing fees, pursuant to sections 1913, 1914, 1926, 1930, 7 and 1932 of title 28, United States Code, for collection 8 by the courts under those sections. The filing fees— 9 ‘‘(A) shall be based on the extent of the use by 10 the person filing of the system established under 11 such section 2 for purposes of such action; 12 ‘‘(B) shall be adjusted based on factors includ- 13 ing the nature of the action and claim for relief, the 14 amount of damages demanded, the estimated com- 15 plexity of the type of action, and the interests of jus- 16 tice; 17 18 ‘‘(C) may be prescribed for the filing of a counterclaim; and 19 ‘‘(D) shall not apply to a pro se litigant or a 20 litigant who certifies their financial hardship. 21 ‘‘(3)(A) The Judicial Conference and the Director 22 shall transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under this 23 subsection to Congress at least 90 days before the sched24 ule becomes effective. All fees collected under this sub25 section shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 12 1 Judiciary Information Technology Fund pursuant to sec2 tion 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reim3 burse expenses incurred in providing services in accord4 ance with section 3 of the Open Courts Act of 2020. 5 ‘‘(B) The Judicial Conference shall review a schedule 6 of fees prescribed under this paragraph three years after 7 it becomes effective and every three years thereafter to 8 ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this para9 graph. If the fees do not meet the requirements of this 10 paragraph, the Judicial Conference shall prescribe a new 11 schedule of fees pursuant to this paragraph and submit 12 the new schedule of fees to Congress pursuant to subpara13 graph (A). 14 ‘‘(C) Amounts deposited to the Judiciary Information 15 Technology Fund pursuant to this subsection and not used 16 to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out section 3 17 of the Open Courts Act of 2020 may be used to reimburse 18 expenses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 19 Courts Act of 2020. Amounts not used to reimburse ex20 penses incurred in carrying out section 2 of the Open 21 Courts Act of 2020 may be used pursuant to section 22 612(a) of title 28, United States Code’’. 23 (2) EFFECTIVE amendment made 24 by paragraph (1) shall take effect beginning on the 25 date specified in subsection (d). g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 DATE.—The 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00 G:\CMTE\JD\16\CTS\MR_009.XML 13 1 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 2 Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 3 Act, shall be construed to— 4 (1) affect the filing fees or other filing proce- 5 dures for prisoners; or 6 (2) abrogate, limit, or modify the requirements 7 described in section 1915 of title 28, United States 8 Code. 9 SEC. 5. DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS. 10 The systems established under sections 2 and 3 of 11 this Act or the amendments made by such sections shall 12 comply with relevant digital accessibility standards estab13 lished pursuant to section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act 14 of 1973. g:\VHLC\091120\091120.056.xml September 11, 2020 (10:44 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:44 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 000000 (776507 6) PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\HRBRAZELTON\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\MR_00