Public Does Not Mean Free

Public court records aren't quite public. By that, we don't mean that if you are called to court for something that a basic background check won't pull it, but we are referring to the actual court record. In case you were wondering, if you wanted to pull back a public case record, it costs around 10 cents per page. That may not seem like a lot, but it adds up pretty quickly especially if you are pulling multiple cases. The U.S. federal court system has a document database called PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records). If you are interested in looking at a court transcript, you have to first make an account and then order the specific document you are looking for. Once you register, you can search for a case in the federal court where the case was filed, or search the nationwide index of federal court cases. If you want a free option, court proceedings are open to the public, and case records can be reviewed free of charge in courthouse clerks' offices during business hours.

Or, you can hope that someone has already requested the documents you are looking for and signed up for RECAP. RECAP is a software that allows users to search for free copies of court documents during a search in PACER, and to help build up a free alternative database. RECAP was created in 2009 as a joining team effort between Princeton University and Harvard University and is now maintained as part of the Free Law Project. Like most great things, this service seems to be developed out of some level of spite, as the origin of the name "RECAP" is derived from "PACER", spelled backward. RECAP is available as an add-on in both Firefox and Chrome, and for each PACER document, if no free version exists and the user purchases the document from PACER, RECAP will automatically upload a copy to the RECAP server. Why is this service not free? Supposedly the fees are used for server and product maintenance, but that's another "sore spot" for this is the state of the application. However, a District Court judge issued a mixed ruling in 2018 - the decision found the fees exceeded the amount allowed by Congress but affirmed that the judiciary could use the money for certain non-PACER expenses. We can tell you with some level of certainty it has not gone to upgrading the PACER interface. According to users, the search tool is "archaic" and not well maintained. Maybe the money is going toward another industry or other government offices. Until we follow the money, we won't know.