,,ii #aaith ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #dffg ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #b1 #bjbf,mr4 ,kennedy 7for himself and ,mr4 ,wyden7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on the ,judiciary ,a ,,bill ,to provide for the modernization of electronic case management systems1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,open ,courts ,act of #bjbf4 #b4 ,modernization of electronic ,federal court records systems 7a7 ,consolidation 7#a7 ,definitions 7,a7 ,covered court ,in this subsection1 the term covered court-- 7i7 means-- 7,i7 any ,federal court in the judicial branch of the ,united ,states ,government2 and 7,,ii7 any ,federal ,court whose records are accessible via the ,public ,access to ,court ,electronic ,records service on the date of enactment of this ,act2 and 7ii7 does not include-- 7,i7 the ,supreme ,court of the ,united ,states2 7,,ii7 the court established under section #ejb of the ,immigration and ,nationality ,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4 #aecb72 7,,iii7 the court established under section #ajc7;a7 of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,act of #aigh 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #ahjc7;a772 or 7,,iv7 the court established under section #ajc7;b7 of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,act of #aigh 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #ahjc7;b774 7,b7 ,covered record ,the term covered record includes-- 7i7 all dockets of a covered court2 7ii7 all documents filed in a covered court1 either by paper or electronically1 and reflected in a docket of a covered court2 7iii7 all orders and opinions filed in a docket of a covered court2 7iv7 all audio recordings filed in a docket of a covered court2 and 7v7 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 courts4 7#b7 ,consolidation ,not later than the date specified in subsection 7f71 the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts1 shall develop1 deliver1 operate1 and sustain1 consistent with the requirements of this ,act1 a centralized system with a separate public interface4 ,in carrying out these responsibilities1 the ,director may consult with the ,administrator of ,general ,services4 7#c7 ,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 7#b74 7b7 ,requirements of system ,the system described under subsection 7a7 shall comply with the following requirements3 7#a7 ,the system shall provide search1 bulk access1 and application programming interface functions for content and metadata4 ,in carrying out these responsibilities1 the ,director may consult with the ,administrator of ,general ,services4 7#b7 ,the system shall make covered records automatically accessible1 in accordance with the ,e-,government ,act of #bjjb 7#dd ,u4,s4,c4 #ceja note71 to the public upon filing1 or in the case of previously sealed records1 after unsealing4 7#c7 ,the home page for public access to the system shall include a notice displayed to first-time visitors1 as determined through a mechanism that does not require registration or impose a fee1 that users will not use the system for an unlawful purpose4 ,access to documents through other means1 including under paragraph 7#f71 may not be conditioned upon acknowledging such notice4 7#d7 ,any information published pursuant to paragraph 7#d71 7#e71 or 7#f7 of section #bje7;a7 or section #bje7;c77#a7 of the ,e-,government ,act of #bjjb 7#dd ,u4,s4,c4 #ceja note7 shall be included in the system or linked to prominently4 7#e7 ,any information published pursuant to any provision of section #bje of the ,e-,government ,act of #bjjb 7#dd ,u4,s4,c4 #ceja note7 not described in paragraph 7#d7 shall be accessible via links from the system4 ,each website established pursuant to that section shall contain a link to the system4 7#f7 ,any website for the system shall substantially comply with the requirements under subsections 7b7 and 7c7 of section #bje of the ,e-,government ,act of #bjjb 7#dd ,u4,s4,c4 #ceja note74 7#g7 ,the system shall enable external websites to be able to link to documents on the system via permanent1 predictable ,u,r,ls4 ,the system shall not unduly restrict automated tools from accessing1 indexing1 and archiving such documents4 7#h7 ,the system may enable courts to automatically generate and submit1 in a computer-readable format1 the reports required by sections #beai7a7 and #cajc;a7d77#a7 of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code4 7#i7 ,the system shall at all times comply with the ,judiciary ,information ,security ,framework4 7#aj7 ,for bankruptcy notices provided in accordance with the ,federal ,rules of ,bankruptcy ,procedure1 the system may provide bankruptcy notices electronically4 7#aa7 ,the system shall create a machine-readable neutral citation for all orders1 opinions1 and decisions made available through the system4 ,the citations shall take the format of the year of the filing of the document1 an abbreviated court name1 and a serial number for the document4 7#ab7 ,the system shall enable users to receive automatic notifications of new covered records in specific cases or cases that match particular search criteria1 using industry-standard notification technologies identified by the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts4 7#ac7 ,consistent with the best practices outlined in ,,omb ,memorandum ,m-#af-ba or a successor document1 the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts may enable other ,federal1 state and territorial1 local and tribal government entities1 and nonprofit organizations supporting those entities1 to access and reuse the code for the system4 ,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 code4 7c7 ,development standards ,the system described under subsection 7a7 shall be developed with the following principles3 7#a7 ,user-centered design1 including-- 7,a7 research with end users of the system such as users within the judiciary1 attorney and pro se filers1 the media1 academic researchers1 and the public2 and 7,b7 product development practices such as formal and continuous feedback loops and a publicly available backlog4 7#b7 ,modern software development such as frequent deployments1 short cycle times1 and integrated development1 security1 and operations4 7#c7 ,modern1 flexible1 and open-source software architecture focused on enabling future changes1 data portability1 software modularity and maintainability1 and the use of application programming interfaces to enable public access to data4 7d7 ,data standards 7#a7 ,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 7a74 ,in carrying out these responsibilities1 the ,director may consult with the ,administrator of ,general ,services and the ,archivist of the ,united ,states4 7#b7 ,requirements ,the data standards established under paragraph 7#a7 shall1 to the extent reasonable and practicable-- 7,a7 incorporate widely accepted common data elements2 7,b7 incorporate a widely accepted1 nonproprietary1 full text searchable1 platform-independent computer-readable format2 and 7,c7 be capable of being continually upgraded as necessary4 7#c7 ,deadlines ,not later than #a year after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts shall issue guidance to all covered courts1 as defined in subsection 7a71 on the data standards established under this subsection4 7e7 ,use of technology ,in carrying out the duties under subsection 7a71 the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts shall use modern technology-- 7#a7 to improve security1 data accessibility1 data quality1 affordability1 and performance2 and 7#b7 to minimize the burden on pro se litigants4 7f7 ,date specified ,the date specified in this subsection is the date that is #e years after the date of enactment of this ,act1 unless the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts certifies to ,congress1 by not later than #d years after the date of enactment of this ,act1 that an additional period of time is required4 ,if the ,director so certifies1 the date specified in this subsection is the date that is #f years after the date of enactment of this ,act4 #c4 ,funds for development1 operation1 and maintenance of modernized court records system 7a7 ,short term increased access fees for high-,volume users ,to fund the development of the modernized court records system 7#a7 ,in general ,section #cjc of the ,judiciary ,appropriations ,act1 #aiib 7title ,,iii of ,public ,law #ajb-adj2 #aje ,stat4 #hjg7 7#bh ,u4,s4,c4 #aiac note7 is amended-- 7,a7 in subsection 7a7-- 7i7 in the first sentence1 by striking 7a7 ,the and inserting 7a7 7#a7 ,the2 and 7ii7 by adding at the end the following3 7#b7 ,not later than #baj days after the date of enactment of the ,open ,courts ,act of #bjbf1 the ,judicial ,conference shall prescribe1 after providing public notice and an opportunity for public comment1 a schedule of additional fees for any person other than a government agency that accrues such fees for access in an amount of #be1jjj or greater in any quarter or uses bulk-access functions4 ,all fees collected under the preceding sentence shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the ,judiciary ,information ,technology ,fund pursuant to section #fab7;c77#a77;,a7 of title #bh1 ,united ,states ,code4 2 and 7,b7 in subsection 7b71 in the second sentence1 by striking ,all and inserting ,except as otherwise provided in this section1 all4 7#b7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by paragraph 7#a7 shall take effect on the date of enactment of this ,act4 7b7 ,long term funding for the operation and maintenance of the modernized court records system and other public access programs 7#a7 ,in general ,section #cjc of the ,judiciary ,appropriations ,act1 #aiib 7title ,,iii of ,public ,law #ajb-adj2 #aje ,stat4 #hjg7 7#bh ,u4,s4,c4 #aiac note71 as amended by subsection 7a77#a7 of this section1 is amended by striking subsections 7a7 and 7b7 and inserting the following3 7a7 ,in this section-- 7#a7 the term annual covered costs means for each fiscal year1 the total of-- 7,a7 the cost of operating and maintaining the system described under section #b of the ,open ,courts ,act of #bjbf2 and 7,b7 the covered public access program costs2 7#b7 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 programs1 in the full fiscal year preceding the date of enactment of the ,open ,courts ,act of #bjbf1 as adjusted for inflation2 and 7b7 ,to generate revenue to offset the annual covered costs1 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 #bjbf1 as adjusted for inflation4 7c7 ,if the revenue generated in the first full fiscal year after the implementation of the fees under subsection 7b7 is not sufficient to offset the annual covered costs1 the ,judicial ,conference shall1 after providing public notice and an opportunity for public comment1 prescribe schedules of reasonable filing fees1 pursuant to sections #aiac1 #aiad1 #aibf1 #aicj1 and #aicb of title #bh1 ,united ,states ,code1 that-- 7#a7 shall be based on factors to ensure that such schedules are graduated1 including the cause of action and claim for relief1 the status of the filer in the action and the financial hardship an additional fee would place on the filer1 the amount of damages demanded1 the estimated complexity of the type of action1 and the interests of justice2 7#b7 may be prescribed for the filing of a counterclaim2 7#c7 shall not apply to a filer 7other than a filer who is required by ,federal law to pay filing fees1 including under section #aiae of title #bh1 ,united ,states ,code7 who certifies that their adjusted gross income was less than #bej1jjj1 adjusted for inflation1 based on their total income from the previous calendar year2 7#d7 shall not be a basis for denying access to the courts of the ,united ,states2 and 7#e7 a court1 upon motion1 may waive in the interest of justice4 7d7 ,all fees collected under this section 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 and may only be used to reimburse expenses incurred carrying out the ,open ,courts ,act of #bjbf1 for other public access programs 7not to exceed the amount of covered public access program costs71 and not for any other purpose4 7e7 ,the ,judicial ,conference and the ,director shall transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under this section to ,congress at least #ij days before the schedule becomes effective4 ,the ,judicial ,conference shall review a schedule of fees prescribed under this section #c years after the schedule becomes effective and every #c years thereafter to ensure that the fees meet the requirements of this subsection4 ,if the fees do not meet the requirements of this subsection1 the ,judicial ,conference shall prescribe a new schedule of fees pursuant to this subsection and submit the new schedule of fees to ,congress4 7f7 ,if at the end of a fiscal year1 the ,judiciary ,information ,technology ,fund contains more than #ej1jjj1jjj in funds that have not already been obligated to be spent in the next fiscal year1 generated through the fees prescribed under this subsection-- 7#a7 all excess funds over #ej1jjj1jjj shall be transferred to the general fund of the ,treasury2 7#b7 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 ,courts2 and 7#c7 the ,judicial ,conference shall within #baj days review the fee schedule to reduce the excess revenue generated4 7g7 7#a7 ,no fees may be charged to access any functionality of the system created under section #b of the ,open ,courts ,act of #bjbf4 7#b7 ,nothing in paragraph 7#a7 may be construed to prohibit the collection of fees from agencies under subsection 7a74 4 7#b7 ,effective date ,the amendment made by paragraph 7#a7 shall take effect on the date specified in section #b7;f74 #d4 ,digital accessibility and mobile-friendly design standards ,the system described under this ,act shall comply with-- 7#a7 relevant digital accessibility standards established pursuant to section #ejh of the ,rehabilitation ,act of #aigc 7#bi ,u4,s4,c4 #gid;d72 and 7#b7 section #ceei of title #dd1 ,united ,states ,code1 if the system were operated by an agency in the executive branch4 #e4 ,goverment ,accountability ,office review 7a7 ,in general ,not later than #a year after the date of enactment of this ,act1 and quarterly thereafter1 the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall notify ,congress whether the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of ,united ,states ,courts has-- 7#a7 produced additional usable functionality of the system described under section #b of this ,act2 and 7#b7 allowed the ,comptroller ,general or a designee to attend all sprint reviews held during the applicable period4 7b7 ,audit ,not later than #b years after the date of enactment of this ,act1 and every #b years thereafter1 the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall-- 7#a7 conduct an audit of the system established under this ,act1 including the compliance of vendors with the quality assessment surveillance plan1 code quality1 and whether the system is meeting the needs of users2 and 7#b7 provide a briefing to ,congress that contains-- 7,a7 the results of the audit2 and 7,b7 any recommendations to improve the system established under this ,act4 7c7 ,sunset ,this section is effective beginning on the date of enactment of this ,act and ending on the date that is #aj years after the date specified in section #b7;f74 #f4 ,cybersecurity requirements 7a7 ,in general ,the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts shall ensure the cybersecurity of the system described under section #b of this ,act in consultation with the relevant cybersecurity expert agencies in the executive branch and consistent with the relevant cybersecurity laws 7including regulations71 policies1 and standards that would apply if the system would be operated by an agency in the executive branch1 including section #bbe7;b77#a77;,d7 of the ,federal ,cybersecurity ,enhancement ,act of #bjae 7#f ,u4,s4,c4 #aebc7;b77#a77;,d774 7b7 ,waiver ,the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts may waive an executive branch cybersecurity requirement if-- 7#a7 the requirement would be infeasible to implement or result in the executive branch gaining access to confidential or nonpublic judicial branch information2 and 7#b7 the ,director-- 7,a7 takes alternative actions to mitigate the cybersecurity risks that the requirement would address2 and 7,b7 not less frequently than annually-- 7i7 notifies the congressional committees described in section #bje7;g77#b7 of the ,e-,government ,act of #bjjb 7#dd ,u4,s4,c4 #ceja note7 of the nature of any exceptions and alternative actions implemented2 and 7ii7 certifies that the intent of the requirement has been achieved through alternate means4 7c7 ,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 system4 #g4 ,updates to the ,e-,government ,act of #bjjb ,section #bje7;b7 of the ,e-,government ,act of #bjjb 7#dd ,u4,s4,c4 #ceja note7 is amended by striking paragraph 7#b7 and inserting the following3 7#b7 ,closed cases 7,a7 ,in general ,electronic files and docket information for closed cases shall be made available online until the later of-- 7i7 #ae years after the date on which the case is closed2 and 7ii7 the date on which the electronic files and docket information are transferred to the ,national ,archives4 7,b7 ,written opinions ,all written opinions issued after the date of enactment of this section shall remain available online unless otherwise redacted by court order4 4 #h4 ,provision of services by the ,general ,services ,administration ,upon the request of the ,director of the ,administrative ,office of the ,united ,states ,courts1 the ,administrator of ,general ,services may provide to the ,administrative ,office1 on a reimbursable basis1 administrative and technical support services1 or information technology products and platforms4 #i4 ,electronic bankruptcy notices ,section #cdb of title #aa1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7e7-- 7,a7 in paragraph 7#a71 by inserting electronic before address2 and 7,b7 in paragraph 7#b71 by inserting electronic after provided to such2 and 7#b7 in subsection 7f7-- 7,a7 in paragraph 7#a71 by inserting electronic after of2 and 7,b7 in paragraph 7#b71 by inserting electronic after provided to such4 #aj4 ,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 7#b7 abrogate1 limit1 or modify the requirements described in section #aiae of title #bh1 ,united ,states ,code2 7#c7 limit or impair the right of public access to judicial records or any right of public access to information otherwise provided by law2 or 7#d7 mandate the disclosure of information that is lawfully sealed or otherwise restricted from public access by ,federal law4