If your team pulls a lot of federal court records, there’s a small-but-real change coming.
In June 2026, the federal judiciary approved raising PACER fees from 10 cents to 12 cents per page, starting January 1, 2027. The quarterly fee-free threshold also moves from $30 to $40.
Not a dramatic jump. Still worth planning for if federal research is part of how you evaluate companies, executives, counterparties — or how you fulfill court-record requests.
What PACER Actually Covers
PACER isn’t just civil dockets. It’s the public access system for federal court records, including:
- Civil and criminal case filings
- Motions, orders, and docket history
- Bankruptcy records (petitions, schedules, claims, and case activity)
That last one matters. Bankruptcy history often shows up in business diligence, vendor risk review, and certain screening workflows. If those pulls run through PACER, the fee change hits there too — not just lawsuit research.
Why the Increase?
The extra revenue is meant to help fund replacing CM/ECF, the federal case management and e-filing system. That modernization is expected to cost hundreds of millions and roll out over several years, including cloud storage and district-level deployments through 2027.
So this isn’t just a fee tweak. It’s part of a longer rebuild of how federal court records are managed and accessed.
What That Means for Diligence Teams
For occasional users, the difference may be easy to miss. For teams that routinely review dockets, complaints, bankruptcy filings, and case histories across multiple matters, costs add up.
A few practical takeaways:
- Budget a bit more for federal public-record research starting in 2027.
- Include bankruptcy in that math if financial-distress checks are part of your process.
- Watch the system changes, not just the price. Modernization can affect how dockets load, how searches work, and how bulk access evolves.
- Keep context on findings. A fee hike doesn’t change what a filing means — it just makes heavy research a little more expensive.
What About Background Screening Companies?
Background screening firms and CRAs that rely on federal court and bankruptcy records feel the same pressure.
Higher PACER costs can flow into:
- Federal criminal/civil history research
- Bankruptcy searches tied to subjects or related entities
- Higher-volume or multi-jurisdiction pulls where page counts stack up
It also puts more weight on doing the research cleanly the first time — correct identity matching, the right case, and clear source documentation — because re-pulling pages gets pricier as fees rise and systems change.
For wholesale / source-level court and public-record research, the story is less about “employment screening policy” and more about access cost, turnaround, and accuracy as federal tools modernize.
The Bigger Picture
Court access has been in the spotlight lately — from debates over how quickly new filings become public, to proposals like the Open Courts Act that would push freer electronic access (still only introduced, not enacted).
PACER’s fee change sits in that same conversation: how much federal court information costs, how it’s delivered, and how reliable research stays as systems modernize.
Bottom Line
Starting January 2027, PACER gets a modest price bump to help fund a major federal court-tech overhaul. Diligence teams and screening companies that lean on federal dockets — including bankruptcy — should expect slightly higher research costs, and keep an eye on how access tools change as CM/ECF is replaced.
If you need source-verified court, bankruptcy, and public-record research as part of business, executive, vendor, or wholesale diligence support, True Court Screening Solutions can help scope the right review for your organization.