PACER is your friend!

Public Access to Court Records (PACER) is an online service used by U.S. district and appellate courts for electronic filing, retrieval, and access to court filings. PACER is maintained by the administrative office of the U.S. Courts and its fees are decided by Congressional mandate. At .08 cents a page, it can remain affordable so long as you only view/print what you really need. Their redesigned website offers many helpful guides and FAQs. To access records, you’ll first need to visit the PACER site and apply for a password. After receiving your password from you will find a link called “Court Links” and after clicking you can find the link to the court in which your case is held and log on with your system password as each court maintains its case information locally.

The Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) system falls under the umbrella of PACER, but CM/ECF is for filing of documents only and requires a separate password for the same site. PACER is for viewing and retrieving those documents filed by the court and interested parties to a case in CM/ECF. In short, PACER is for finding, CM/ECF is for filing.

It’ true PACER can be tricky and unyielding especially when one is try to file a document that doesn’t not fit within a prescribed category. But in my experience, I’ve found the clerk within the court you’re attempting to file with is always willing to answer questions and help you get on the right track. After working with PACER for over 6 months, it’s turned from enemy to friend. It will soon be your friend too!

Note: If you need to use PACER for a law school assignment, please stop by the Reference Desk for assistance since the Westminster Law Library does maintain a PACER subscription for law school faculty, students & staff.

Written By Kimberley Dickey, Law Librarian Fellow