PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records)
PACER allows any user with a personal computer or word processor to dial-in to a district or
bankruptcy court computer and retrieve official electronic case information and court dockets
usually in less than a minute. User fee charges for this service are $.60 per minute of actual use
(just reduced in April 1996). Persons desiring to use this service must first register with the
National PACER Registration Center (toll-free call: 800 676-6856).
The federal courts continue to upgrade equipment and expand data retrieval options and reports.
The Southern District of Florida offers 800 lines in order to eliminate long distance toll charges.
Each court controls its own computer system and case information database; therefore, there are
some variations among jurisdictions as to the information offered. The district court and
bankruptcy court PACER each provide the information in a different manner. Searches for case
information in the Southern District of Florida may be made by name or case number.
The National PACER Registration Center (toll-free call: 800 676-6856) provides manuals, connection information and the modem telephone numbers of the individual courts computers as well as technical support for connection to these computers.
BILLING NOTICEA login and password, issued by the PACER Service Center, is required for access to PACER either through the dial-up service or the Internet service. If you do not already have a PACER account, you may register on-line at this web site. |