,,ii #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #bjfd ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,july #i1 #bjai,mr4 ,portman introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and 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 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,administrator ,the term ,administrator means the ,administrator of ,general ,services4 7#b7 ,director ,the term ,director means the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts4 7#c7 ,machine-readable ,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 #c4 ,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 ,director1 in coordination with the ,administrator1 shall-- 7#a7 consolidate the ,case ,management_/,electronic ,case ,files system2 and 7#b7 develop #a 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-- 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 system developed under this section at a level sufficient to recover the cost of providing the services associated with the administration and maintenance of the system to the ,state4 #d4 ,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 ,director1 in coordination with the ,administrator1 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 ,conference of the ,united ,states4 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 any available digital audio and visual files of court recordings4 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-- 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-- 7#a7 documents that are not made publicly accessible under subsection 7a77#a72 and 7#b7 court proceedings1 the recordings of which are not made available under subsection 7a77#f74 7e7 ,filing fees ,the ,judiciary ,appropriations ,act1 #aiib 7title ,,iii of ,public ,law #ajb-adj2 #aje ,stat4 #hjg7 is amended by striking section #cjc 7#bh ,u4,s4,c4 #aiac note7 and inserting the following3 #cjc4 7a7 7#a7 ,to cover the costs of maintaining the ,public ,access to ,court ,electronic ,records system in accordance with section #d of the ,electronic ,court ,records ,reform ,act of #bjai1 the ,judicial ,conference-- 7,a7 shall collect an annual fee from the ,department of ,justice equal to the ,public ,access to ,court ,electronic ,records access fees paid by the ,department of ,justice in #bjah1 as adjusted for inflation2 and 7,b7 may1 only to the extent necessary1 prescribe reasonable filing fees1 pursuant to sections #aiac1 #aiad1 #aibf1 #aicj1 and #aicb of title #bh1 ,united ,states ,code1 for collection by the courts under those sections4 7#b7 ,the filing fees shall be commensurate with the burden imposed on the court by the party4 ,the filing fees shall impose a lesser fee on filers who are filing on behalf of individuals4 ,pro se litigants and litigants who certify their financial hardship shall not be subject to the filing fees4 ,the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts1 under the direction of the ,judicial ,conference of the ,united ,states1 shall prescribe a schedule of reasonable filing fees to cover the costs described in this subsection that the ,director shall maintain and make available to the public4 7b7 ,the ,judicial ,conference and the ,director shall transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under subsection 7a7 to ,congress at least #cj days before the schedule becomes effective4 ,all fees collected under subsection 7a7 shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the ,judiciary ,information ,technology ,fund pursuant to section #fab7;c77#a77;,a7 of title #bh1 ,united ,states ,code1 to reimburse expenses incurred in providing services in accordance with section #d of the ,electronic ,court ,records ,reform ,act of #bjai4 4 7f7 ,rule of construction ,nothing in this ,act1 or the amendments made by this ,act1 shall be construed to-- 7#a7 affect the filing fees or other filing procedures for prisoners2 or 7#b7 abrogate1 limit1 or modify the requirements described in section #aiae of title #bh1 ,united ,states ,code4