Explainer

People looking for a federal court filing have several free-access options within PACER, the judiciary's electronic records service. The rules distinguish between registering for an account, searching for records and obtaining particular documents, making the price of a visit depend on what a reader accesses.

PACER's official guidance says registration is free and account holders are not billed when their accrued charges total $30 or less in a calendar quarter. Once usage exceeds that threshold, charges apply. The threshold is a billing waiver, so it should not be understood as a credit deducted from a larger bill.

Written court opinions are available without a PACER access charge. Viewing records at courthouse public-access terminals is also free. Parties and attorneys of record can receive one free electronic copy through the court's filing notification when the applicable conditions are met; additional access is a separate matter.

For paid access, PACER lists a charge of 10 cents per page and a $3 ceiling for a single document. That ceiling does not extend to every product: searches, non-case-specific reports and transcripts have different limits. The pricing page recommends using known case numbers and narrowing docket date ranges to reduce unnecessary retrieval.

People unable to afford access can ask individual courts about exemptions, which are decided case by case. PACER also points to free opinions on GovInfo. Together, these routes provide ways to inspect public judicial work while keeping the difference between a court-record service and a general legal-research database clear.

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