,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #aafd  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,february #ac1       
#bjai,mr4 ,collins of ,georgia 7for     
himself1 ,mr4 ,quigley1 ,mr4 ,david ,p4 
,roe of ,tennessee1 and ,mr4 ,johnson of
 ,georgia7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on the ,judiciary  ,a ,,bill 
,to direct the ,director of the         
,administrative ,office of the ,united  
,states ,courts to consolidate the ,case
 ,management_/,electronic ,case ,files  
system1 and for other purposes4  #a4    
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,electronic ,court ,records ,reform 
,act of #bjai4  #b4 ,consolidation of   
the ,case ,management_/,electronic ,case
 ,files system  7a7 ,in general ,not    
later than #b years after the date of   
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,director of the ,administrative ,office
 of the ,united ,states ,courts1 in     
coordination with the ,administrator of 
,general ,services1 shall consolidate   

the ,case ,management_/,electronic ,case
 ,files system1 and shall develop one   
system for all filings with courts of   
the ,united ,states1 which shall be     
administered by the ,administrative     
,office of the ,united ,states ,courts4 
7b7 ,use of technology ,in developing   
the system under subsection 7a71 the    
,director shall use modern technology in
 order-- 7#a7 to improve security1 data 
accessibility1 affordability1 and       
performance2 and  7#b7 to minimize the  
burden on pro se litigants4  7c7        
,availability to ,states  7#a7 ,in      
general ,a ,state may choose to         
participate in the system developed     
under this section4  7#b7 ,fee ,the     
,director shall charge a fee to a ,state
 that chooses to participate in the     
system1 which is set at a level to      
recover the cost of providing the       
services associated with the            
administration and maintenance of the   
system to the ,state4  #c4 ,public      
,access to ,court ,electronic ,records  

system requirements  7a7 ,in general    
,not later than #b years after the date 
of the enactment of this ,act1 the      
,director of the ,administrative ,office
 of the ,united ,states ,courts1 in     
coordination with the ,administrator of 
,general ,services1 shall update the    
,public ,access to ,court ,electronic   
,records system1 which shall be subject 
to the following requirements3  7#a7 ,a 
document filed with a court shall be    
made publicly accessible upon filing1   
except as ordered by a court or by rule 
of the ,judicial ,conference4  7#b7 ,all
 documents on the system shall be       
available to the public and to parties  
before the court free of charge4  7#c7  
,any information that is prohibited from
 public disclosure by law or court order
 shall be redacted4  7#d7 ,all documents
 shall be text-searchable and           
machine-readable4  7#e7 ,to the extent  
practicable1 external websites shall be 
able to link to documents on the system4
  7#f7 ,the system shall include digital

 audio and visual files of court        
recordings1 when such files are         
available4  7#g7 ,the system shall      
provide search functions for public use4
  7b7 ,minimizing the burden on pro se  
litigants ,in developing the system to  
comply with the requirements under      
subsection 7a71 the ,director shall1 to 
the extent practicable1 not impose a    
disproportionate impact on pro se       
litigants4  7c7 ,use of technology ,in  
developing the system under subsection  
7a71 the ,director shall use modern     
technology in order-- 7#a7 to improve   
security1 data accessibility1           
affordability1 and performance2 and     
7#b7 to minimize the burden on pro se   
litigants4  7d7 ,authority ,to exempt   
certain documents ,the ,director may    
identify categories of documents which  
are not made publicly accessible under  
subsection 7a77#a71 and categories of   
court proceedings1 the recordings of    
which are not made available under      
subsection 7a77#f74  #d4 ,definition of 

machine-readable  ,in this ,act1 the    
term machine-readable means a format in 
which information or data can be easily 
processed by a computer without human   
intervention while ensuring no semantic 
meaning is lost4