Pulling PACER Court Records Without a Bill

What it costs

• $0.10 per page for electronic access to case documents, docket sheets, and case-specific reports.
• Most documents are capped at $3.00 — the equivalent of 30 pages — no matter how long the document is.
• The cap does not apply to name-search results, reports that are not case-specific, or transcripts.
• For PDFs, one PDF page is one billable page. For HTML, billing is computed by size, at 4,320 bytes per billable page.
• Audio files of hearings are $2.40 per file.

The quarterly waiver — this is the important one

• If your account accrues $30 or less in a quarterly billing cycle, the fees are waived entirely for that quarter.
• Ordinary case-file retrieval — a docket sheet and a handful of documents — usually lands inside the waiver.
• Practical consequence: pulling one case's docket and its key filings will typically cost nothing. Broad name searching is what generates real bills, because search results are billed per results page with no cap.

What is free regardless

• Written judicial opinions are free — no fee is charged for access to them.
• Viewing case information or documents at a courthouse public-access terminal is free.
• Parties in a case, including pro se litigants, receive one free electronic copy of documents filed electronically in their own case via the notice of electronic filing.
• Courts may exempt individuals or classes from fees — including indigent persons — on application.

Retrieving efficiently

• Search by case number rather than by name where you can. Name searches are billed per results page and are not capped.
• Limit a docket report by date range instead of pulling every entry, since the docket report itself is billed by length.
• Read the docket first, then pull only the specific document numbers you actually need.
• Note the exact case number, district, and document numbers before you start, so you are not browsing on the clock.

Not a prediction of any outcome. Deadlines and local rules vary by district — confirm them against your own court's rules and your own record.