Vol. 37, Number 2 —February 2005

New Fees in 2005

Fees for filing in federal district courts and for accessing court electronic records rose in the new year.

Effective February 7, 2005, the cost of filing a civil action in U.S. district courts rose to $250. The increase in statutory fee, which was previously set at $150, was authorized when the President signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005. The Judicial Conference has determined that the new fee will have no impact on the fee for filing a motion to lift the automatic stay imposed under Item 20 of the Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, which previously linked the amount of that fee to the amount of the fee for filing a civil action under 28 U.S.C. § 1914. Likewise, the fee for filing an adversary proceeding under Item 6 of the Bankruptcy Schedule will remain at $150, pending review of the fee.

The district court filing fee has not been adjusted for inflation or otherwise raised since 1997, and was lower than the initial filing fee in numerous state courts, many of which charge additional fees for motions. Individuals who cannot afford to pay the filing fee may still file in forma pauperis.

For the first time, a national attorney admission fee of $150 has been established for appellate courts and the fee incorporated into the Court of Appeals Miscellaneous Fee Schedule. Although there has been a national attorney admission fee for district courts, there was no national appellate attorney admission fee. Appellate courts simply charged a local fee of between $5 and $50.

The cost of public access to court electronic records (PACER) increased by a penny, to 8 cents per page, effective January 1, 2005. The total for any document, docket sheet, or case-specific report still will not exceed the fee for 30 pages and no fee is owed until an account holder accrues charges of more than $10 in a calendar year. Attorneys of record and parties in a case, including pro se litigants, receive one free electronic copy of all documents filed electronically. Printing copies of any record or document that can be accessed electronically at a public terminal in the courthouse continue to be 10 cents per page.

Congress has directed that electronic public access fees should be used to enhance access, and the Judiciary has set fees to keep pace with the costs of providing existing services and developing enhanced services related to public access. The penny increase for PACER access was a result of Congress’ direction that fee revenue be used to fund Case Management/Electronic Case Files systems operational costs, in addition to CM/ECF implementation and development costs, which have historically been funded with PACER fee revenues.