Federal Court Records Search: PACER & Cases

Independent federal court-record guide: Public-Court-Records.us is an independent educational website. It is not PACER, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, a U.S. District Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice, a law firm, or a government agency. This guide explains official public-access routes and does not provide legal advice, certify records, alter court files, or grant access to sealed or restricted material.

Federal court records are split between PACER Case Locator and each court’s own PACER database

PACER — Public Access to Court Electronic Records is the official federal Judiciary service for electronic access to U.S. District Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and U.S. Court of Appeals case information and documents.

The most important distinction is this: PACER Case Locator is a nationwide index, while the detailed docket and filed documents are maintained by the individual federal court in its CM/ECF system. If you already know the court and case number, going directly to that court is usually faster and can avoid unnecessary name-search charges.

PACER pricing checked: August 30, 2026 Case Locator updates about every 24 hours District + Bankruptcy + Appeals Supreme Court uses its own docket system

PACER is not one giant document database

Federal Court Record Route Finder

Choose what you actually need before spending money on search-result pages.

Federal civil lawsuit

Search the appropriate U.S. District Court. If the district is unknown, use PACER Case Locator first. Once you identify the district and case number, switch to that court’s PACER Query/Docket Report.

Federal criminal prosecution

Use the U.S. District Court where the criminal case was filed. Remember that documents filed before November 1, 2004 in criminal cases have special electronic-access limits for the general public.

Federal bankruptcy

Use the appropriate U.S. Bankruptcy Court or PACER Case Locator. Bankruptcy searches can use case number or party name; PACER also supports debtor-identification searches using SSN or tax identification information where legally appropriate.

Federal appeal

Use the relevant U.S. Court of Appeals PACER database. If you do not know the circuit, PACER Case Locator can help identify it.

U.S. Supreme Court case

Use the Supreme Court’s own Docket Search. Its online docket contains complete status information for cases filed since the beginning of the 2001 Term, and electronic images are available for most filings submitted after November 13, 2017.

Supreme Court Docket Search

Old historical federal case

Search PACER first, then contact the federal court. Permanently preserved older case files can be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration. Some court records remain at a Federal Records Center and can require a retrieval process.

Sealed federal case or sealed indictment

PACER states that sealed documents, including sealed indictments, are not publicly available in PACER. Do not try to reconstruct sealed material from unofficial leaks or cached records.

Federal court opinion only

Court opinions are free through PACER for registered users. Many federal opinions are also searchable free through GovInfo.

How to create a PACER account

You must register before using PACER to search federal court records online. Registration itself is currently free.

1. Open the official PACER registration page.
2. Choose Case Search Only if you want only public federal court-record searching and do not need electronic filing privileges.
3. Complete the identity and account fields.
4. Create your username, password and account-security information.
5. Add a credit card if you want prompt search access. PACER states that providing a card during registration allows prompt access to court records.
6. If you do not provide a credit card, wait for the activation token. PACER currently sends it by U.S. mail and says delivery generally takes 7–10 business days.
7. Use the token through Manage My Account to activate search access.
8. Consider multifactor authentication. PACER provides MFA through authentication applications and backup codes. PACER-only users can enroll, while users with CM/ECF-level privileges are subject to the Judiciary’s filing-access MFA requirements.

PACER Case Locator vs searching a specific federal court

How to search PACER court records by name

A party-name search is useful when you do not know the case number, but it is also where users most often create avoidable PACER fees.

1. Open PACER Case Locator if the court is unknown.
2. Sign in with your PACER account.
3. Choose Party Search.
4. Enter the Last Name or Entity Name. Add First Name and Middle Name when known to reduce irrelevant matches.
5. Use Exact Matches Only when appropriate. This is useful when you are confident about the exact party name but can miss spelling/name variations.
6. Select Party Role only when it helps. Party-role codes can vary by court.
7. Select a Court Type if known. Limit the search to District, Bankruptcy or Appellate instead of All Courts when possible.
8. Use geographic filters. If you know the state or region, do not pay for nationwide results you do not need.
9. Add Filed Date or Closed Date ranges. This can dramatically reduce a common-name result set.
10. Review the search cost/result size. Remember that PACER bills search-result pages even if no matching case is found.
11. Identify the correct court and case number.
12. Stop repeating the name search. Once the case number is known, switch to the individual court and use the case number for follow-up access.

What PACER Case Locator can search

PACER currently lists Case Locator search options that can include:

Federal district-court case numbers: how to read one

Federal case-number formats vary slightly by court, but PACER’s user guidance uses a district-court example such as:

1:05-cv-06794

Federal criminal cases commonly use cr instead of cv. Bankruptcy and appellate courts use their own case-number conventions.

How PACER charges work in 2026

The $3 cap does not apply to everything

The $3 maximum generally applies to a single document and certain case-specific reports, but PACER states that the cap does not apply to:

• party/name search-result pages;
• non-case-specific reports;
• transcripts of federal court proceedings.

A search can cost money even when it finds nothing

PACER charges according to the number of pages generated by a search. Its current pricing FAQ gives an important example: a search that returns “no matches found” can still create a one-page, $0.10 charge.

How PACER calculates a “page”

PACER shows the document cost before you buy it

When you select an available document link, PACER displays the number of billable pages and the corresponding charge before you confirm access.

1. Select the document link from the docket.
2. Read the billable page count.
3. Read the displayed PACER charge.
4. Confirm that this is the filing you actually need.
5. Select View Document only after reviewing the cost.
6. Save the PDF locally if you may need it again.

PACER’s quarterly waiver: why many occasional users pay nothing

PACER currently waives fees when an account accrues $30 or less during a calendar quarter.

The billing quarters are:

PACER currently states that about 75% of users do not pay a fee in a given quarter because their usage remains within the waiver threshold.

PACER pricing changes on January 1, 2027

The federal Judiciary announced a temporary PACER fee increase beginning January 1, 2027.

The Judiciary announced that the temporary increase is planned for a five-year period to help fund development of a new case-management and public-access system.

Pricing checked August 30, 2026. If you are reading this after January 1, 2027, verify PACER’s live Pricing page before relying on the 2026 figures.

Five ways federal court records can be free

One free NEF/NDA document copy: save it the first time

Attorneys of record and qualifying self-represented parties can receive an electronic Notice of Electronic Filing or Notice of Docket Activity containing a link to a newly filed document.

PACER states that:

• one free copy is available through the notice link;
• the free link does not apply to transcripts;
• the link expires after the first use or 15 days, whichever occurs first;
• after the free access expires, normal PACER charges apply.

Federal courthouse public terminals: a real no-PACER-fee option

Federal Judiciary guidance says records retained at the court can be viewed at a federal courthouse without an electronic PACER access fee.

Older federal court records: PACER → court → NARA/Federal Records Center

Older federal records can follow a very different workflow from a recently e-filed case.

1. Search PACER first. Look for the case number, court and docket information.
2. Contact the federal court if documents are missing.
3. Ask whether the file remains with the court, is stored at a Federal Records Center, or was transferred to the National Archives.
4. If the court needs to retrieve an eligible record from a Federal Records Center, ask about the current retrieval fee before ordering.
5. If permanently preserved records have transferred to NARA, use the National Archives access process instead of continuing to search PACER for an image that does not exist there.

Why an old criminal document may appear on the docket but not open online

PACER identifies several categories with special electronic-access restrictions.

Sealed federal records are not in public PACER

PACER is explicit: sealed documents, including sealed indictments, are not available to the public through PACER.

Federal court privacy redactions: what may be removed

Federal court records are public subject to legal restrictions, sealing orders and privacy-redaction rules.

PACER explains that public records can have personal identifiers removed or redacted, including information such as:

• full Social Security numbers;
• financial-account numbers;
• names of minors;
• dates of birth;
• home addresses in criminal cases.

PACER also notes that responsibility for required redaction generally rests with the filer.

How to read a federal docket without misreading the case

How to read a PACER Docket Report efficiently

Large federal dockets can contain hundreds or thousands of entries. Pulling the entire report repeatedly can waste money and make research harder.

1. Open the correct federal case.
2. Select Docket Report.
3. Enter a date range when you need only recent activity.
4. Exclude Parties and Counsel if the court gives that option and you already have the information.
5. Exclude Terminated Parties when they are not relevant.
6. Review the estimated charge.
7. Run the docket report.
8. Read docket text before opening PDFs.
9. Open only the filings that are actually relevant to your task.
10. Record the docket-entry number for future reference.

Transcripts have different PACER rules

Transcripts are not treated like ordinary capped PACER documents.

PACER states that when a transcript is produced:

• it is added to PACER 90 days after production;
• during the 90-day period, the transcript can be inspected at the clerk’s office;
• the clerk can provide information about purchasing it from the court reporter or transcriber;
• the normal $3 PACER document maximum does not apply to transcripts.

PACER audio files

Some courts make audio recordings of hearings available through PACER.

The current PACER charge is $2.40 per available audio file. Availability depends on the particular court and proceeding.

Federal court opinions can often be researched for free

If you need the judge’s written legal reasoning rather than every filing in the case, start with free opinion resources.

Supreme Court records: do not use the normal PACER workflow

The Supreme Court of the United States maintains its own public docket search.

The Supreme Court states that its online docket contains complete status information for cases filed since the beginning of the 2001 Term.

You can search by:

• Supreme Court docket number;
• case/party name;
• other words or numbers appearing in a docket report.

For most filings submitted after November 13, 2017, the Supreme Court docket also provides electronic images of filings.

Supreme Court docket-number format

A typical Supreme Court docket number looks like:

25-123

The first portion identifies the Term year and the second identifies the docket sequence. In forma pauperis matters can use different numbering conventions.

Free case notifications from the Supreme Court

For a pending Supreme Court case, open the individual docket and use the envelope icon to subscribe to email notifications of new filings and Court activity.

What to do when PACER returns no case

1. Wait if the case was just filed. Case Locator can lag the individual court by about 24 hours.
2. Search the specific court directly if you know it.
3. Check spelling. Try the legal name rather than a nickname.
4. Use fewer unnecessary name fields. A wrong middle name can exclude the right result.
5. Try an entity’s formal business name.
6. Limit or change the state/region.
7. Check the case type. District, Bankruptcy and Appellate are different datasets.
8. Use the case number if available from another official document.
9. Consider an older-record limitation. Some historical documents are not electronically available.
10. Consider a restricted case type. Social Security, immigration and historical criminal filings can have special limitations.
11. Consider sealing. Public PACER does not display sealed documents.
12. Contact the federal court. Each court maintains its own case information.

Federal court vs state court: make sure PACER is actually the right place

Removed to federal court? Search both systems

A civil lawsuit can begin in state court and later be removed to federal court.

When that happens:

The state-court docket and federal PACER docket remain separate records. Do not assume the federal docket contains every document from the earlier state proceeding, or vice versa.

Bankruptcy case search: several details matter

Bankruptcy records are federal court records, but their search workflow differs from an ordinary civil lawsuit.

PACER states that U.S. Bankruptcy Court searches can use:

• case number;
• party/debtor name;
• Social Security number;
• tax identification number.

The nationwide PACER Case Locator also provides specialized bankruptcy searching.

How to distinguish docket information from the actual filed document

Need a certified federal court document?

A document downloaded from PACER is a copy of the electronic court filing, but another government agency, foreign authority, licensing body or legal proceeding may specifically require a certified copy.

1. Use PACER to identify the court and exact case number.
2. Find the exact docket-entry number and document description.
3. Open the federal court’s official website.
4. Locate its Clerk’s Office copy/certification instructions.
5. Specify the exact filing you need.
6. Ask whether ordinary certification, exemplification or another authentication is required.
7. Confirm the court’s current copy and certification fees.
8. Submit the request directly to that court.

PACER Service Center can conduct a search for you—but it is much more expensive

If you cannot perform the PACER search yourself, the PACER Service Center currently offers a paid search service.

PACER support: registration, billing and search help

Case alerts: some federal courts provide free RSS docket notifications

Some federal courts provide RSS feeds for newly docketed activity.

PACER explains that an RSS subscription can provide:

• automatic notice of new case activity;
• summary docket text;
• links to the relevant PACER document or docket report.

The RSS notification itself is free, although opening PACER documents from the feed can still generate normal PACER charges.

Use PACER’s Court CM/ECF Lookup to see whether a particular court provides an RSS feed.

Common PACER mistakes that waste money or produce the wrong case

• running the same common-name search repeatedly;
• searching nationwide when the state is already known;
• pulling the full docket every time instead of using a date range;
• opening every PDF before reading the docket description;
• assuming the $3 cap applies to name-search result pages;
• assuming a “no match” search is free;
• forgetting that Case Locator can lag a new filing by about 24 hours;
• searching PACER for an ordinary state-court case;
• assuming a sealed document should be accessible somewhere else;
• reopening a document rather than saving the first copy;
• opening a long transcript while assuming a $3 cap;
• treating an indictment or complaint as a final judgment.

Wrong-person checklist for a federal name search

Common names can generate multiple cases in different states and courts.

• confirm full party name;
• compare middle name or initial;
• check whether the party is an individual or business;
• confirm the federal court;
• confirm state and division;
• confirm case number;
• compare filing date;
• check party role;
• review counsel information;
• compare nature of suit in civil litigation;
• read the actual docket before making conclusions;
• do not identify the person if meaningful uncertainty remains.

What PACER does not provide

Responsible use and FCRA boundary

Public-Court-Records.us is not a Consumer Reporting Agency and should not be used as an FCRA consumer-reporting service for:

• employment screening;
• tenant or housing screening;
• credit decisions;
• insurance eligibility;
• other decisions regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

A public federal court record can also contain allegations that were disputed, amended or dismissed. Always distinguish a complaint, indictment or charge from a judgment, conviction or final disposition.

Official federal sources reviewed for this PACER guide

• PACER — Public Access to Court Electronic Records — official federal court-record access service.
• PACER — Find a Case — specific-court search, nationwide Case Locator, access limitations and federal court-record search methods.
• PACER Case Locator FAQ — national index, nightly/24-hour updates and result information.
• PACER Pricing — $0.10/page pricing, document cap, search-result billing, quarterly waiver, audio, free-access routes and cost-saving methods.
• PACER 2027 Fee Announcement — scheduled $0.12/page rate and $40 quarterly exemption beginning January 1, 2027.
• PACER Case Search Only Registration — free registration, credit-card activation and mailed activation-token process.
• PACER MFA Resources — authentication app, backup-code and login guidance.
• PACER Search Fields FAQ — district, bankruptcy, appellate and Case Locator search inputs.
• PACER Case Number Search Guidance — direct case-number lookup and party-name search cost reduction.
• PACER Information Availability FAQ — current document coverage, redactions and historical/restricted case categories.
• PACER Sealed Documents FAQ — confirms sealed documents and sealed indictments are unavailable to public PACER users.
• PACER Court Opinions — free opinions and GovInfo access.
• PACER Free/Reduced-Cost Access Options — quarterly waiver, courthouse terminals, exemptions and free research alternatives.
• U.S. Courts — Find a Case (PACER) — courthouse access, National Archives records and Federal Records Center retrieval guidance.
• Supreme Court of the United States — Docket Search — Supreme Court case search and docket notifications.
• Supreme Court — Case Documents — docket/document coverage and post-November 13, 2017 electronic filing images.

Research reviewed: August 30, 2026. PACER pricing, account-security rules, historical-record fees and individual federal court interfaces can change. Verify transaction-sensitive information on PACER or the applicable court website before paying.

Frequently asked questions about PACER federal court records

1. What is PACER court records search?

PACER, or Public Access to Court Electronic Records, is the official federal Judiciary service for electronic access to U.S. District Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court and U.S. Court of Appeals case information and filed documents. A free PACER account registration is required before online searching.

2. What is the difference between PACER and PACER Case Locator?

PACER Case Locator is the nationwide index used to identify the court and case number. The detailed docket and filed documents are maintained by the individual federal court’s PACER/CM/ECF system. Case Locator is updated about every 24 hours, while electronic information in the filing court can be available sooner.

3. How much does PACER cost in 2026?

The current electronic access rate is $0.10 per billable page. A single document or qualifying case-specific report is generally capped at $3, but that cap does not apply to party-name search results, non-case-specific reports or transcripts. Charges of $30 or less in a calendar quarter are currently waived.

4. Will PACER charge me if my name search finds no case?

It can. PACER charges for pages generated by searches, including searches that return no matches. PACER’s own pricing example explains that a no-match search can generate a one-page, $0.10 charge.

5. Why should I search PACER by case number instead of a person’s name?

PACER recommends case-number searching when the number is known because it takes you directly to the case without generating broad billable party-name result pages. After locating a case by name once, save its case number for future access.

6. Can I see sealed federal court records on PACER?

No. PACER states that sealed documents, including sealed indictments, are not available to the public through PACER. Restricted or redacted information should not be reconstructed from unofficial sources.

7. Why is an older federal court document missing from PACER?

Some older federal records have special electronic-access limitations. PACER identifies pre-2003 bankruptcy documents and criminal documents filed before November 1, 2004 among the categories that can be unavailable to general public users electronically. Older permanently preserved records may also be held through the National Archives.

8. Are U.S. Supreme Court cases searched in the same way as PACER district court cases?

No. The Supreme Court of the United States maintains its own public Docket Search. Its online docket contains complete status information for cases filed since the beginning of the 2001 Term, with electronic images of most filings submitted after November 13, 2017.

9. Can I view federal court records without paying PACER fees?

Yes in several situations. PACER currently waives quarterly charges of $30 or less, federal court opinions are free, courthouse public terminals can be used for free viewing, parties can receive one free electronic copy of qualifying newly filed documents, and eligible users may request fee exemptions.

10. Can Public-Court-Records.us or PACER be used as an employment or tenant screening report?

Public-Court-Records.us is not a Consumer Reporting Agency and should not be used as an FCRA consumer-reporting service for employment, housing, tenant, credit, insurance or similar eligibility decisions. A PACER name match also does not independently prove that a case belongs to a particular person.