Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) is an online system that provides public access to federal court records and documents. PACER provides access to a diverse range of court records, including dockets and documents from U.S. federal district courts, courts of appeals, and bankruptcy courts. While the law library does not have an institutional subscription to PACER, the reference librarians can help you navigate and conduct cost-effective research using your own subscription.
PACER operates on a fee-based system. There is no charge to create or maintain an account, but search results, docket sheets, and documents cost $0.10 per page. For a single document, the cost is capped at $3.00. Total charges under $30 per quarter are waived. For detailed fee structures, refer to Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule and PACER Pricing: How fees work.
*Some text courtesy of University of Arizona Law Library
RECAP is a crowdsourced, free version of PACER that includes some, but not all, of the content found on PACER, free of charge. Even if the documents are not there, often the docket will be available and will link you directly to PACER to purchase specific docket entries, which can be convenient and help you avoid search-related PACER charges. For more information, see What is RECAP?.