Courts say that 75 Percent of PACER Users Won’t Pay for Access Under New Fee Schedule

75 Percent of PACER Users Won’t Pay for Access Under New Fee Schedule. Press Release. Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (July 09, 2010).

The complete release:

A recent change in the fee exemption policy of the Federal Judiciary’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records system means that 75 percent of PACER users won’t pay any fee this year.

The policy-making Judicial Conference of the United States approved last March 16 an adjustment to the Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule so that users are not billed unless they accrue charges of more than $10 of PACER usage in a quarterly billing cycle.

That adjustment was implemented almost immediately after the Conference action.

Previously, users were not billed until their accounts totaled at least $10 in a one-year period. The result of the adjustment has the effect of quadrupling the amount of data available without charge. About 50 percent of all PACER users did not pay a fee in 2009, and preliminary indications are that the percentage will climb to 75 in 2010 under the new fee schedule.

Hat tip to BeSpacific.

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