PACER Rises to 12 Cents a Page on January 1, 2027. What Stays Free, and What the Cap Still Does

PACER will charge 12 cents per page beginning January 1

PACER's per-page fee rises from 10 cents to 12 cents on January 1, 2027. That is a two-cent increase, or a 20 percent rise in the per-page rate by simple arithmetic. The courts did not state the 20 percent figure themselves.

The change was announced June 26, 2026, in a PACER announcement and a same-day news release from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States approved the increase while acting on behalf of the full Conference. Neither publication gives a separate approval date.

The new rate will remain in place for five years. The courts describe the increase as temporary.

The quarterly waiver rises from $30 to $40

Users who accrue $40 or less in PACER fees during a quarter will see no fee and no increase. Under the current billing rules, users are billed quarterly only when their charges exceed the waiver threshold. Fees at or below the threshold are waived.

The courts say the vast majority of individual users fall within the waiver group. Low-volume users who remain at or below $40 per quarter will continue to pay nothing.

The increase is the first PACER fee adjustment in nearly 15 years. The per-page rate rose from 8 cents to 10 cents in 2012.

The judiciary says the money will fund a replacement for CM/ECF

The stated purpose is to reimburse development of a new case management and public access system that will replace CM/ECF. The Administrative Office's release says current PACER collections are insufficient for the remaining phases of that work. It also says cybersecurity concerns led the judiciary to accelerate the timeline.

PACER fees generate about $147 million a year, according to the release. The modernization project is estimated to cost $700 million to $800 million over six years, ending in fiscal year 2030. A substantial portion of the cost is expected to fall in fiscal years 2026 through 2028.

Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr., director of the Administrative Office, called the increase “a last resort.” The judiciary's position is that the system being funded is outdated and presents a cybersecurity risk, and that the courts need its replacement to continue operating securely.

The $3 document cap still limits many single-document charges

The current official fee schedule lists a $3.00 cap per document. The cap does not apply to search results, non-case-specific reports or transcripts.

For illustration, a 30-page document would produce a $3.60 charge at 12 cents per page, compared with $3.00 at 10 cents. But the published $3.00 per-document cap would limit the charge for that filing to $3.00 at either rate.

The two-cent increase therefore has its clearest effect on searches, reports and transcripts that are not capped, as well as on firms pulling large volumes of records and documents.

The announcement and the Administrative Office release do not say that the $3.00 cap will change. When we reviewed the official PACER fee schedule before publication, it still listed 10 cents per page and a $30 waiver, with no mention of 2027. The separate announcement page already listed 12 cents and $40. The two pages disagree until the schedule is updated, so check the live fee schedule before relying on the cap or other listed figures.

Court opinions and several access rules remain free

The current schedule states that court opinions are free. A party in a case receives one free copy of a Notice of Electronic Filing or Notice of Docket Activity. Viewing records at a federal courthouse is also free.

Courts may exempt indigent users, pro bono attorneys, academic researchers and nonprofit organizations on request. The current schedule lists audio files at $2.40 each and paper copies sent by mail at 50 cents per page. The June announcement does not say that those charges will change.

The schedule also does not cap search charges. The Free Law Project says a search returning zero results is billed as one page. That statement appears in an October 21, 2026, article by Rainey Reitman and reflects the group's criticism of the current system.

Free Law Project says Congress should replace PACER

The Free Law Project, a nonprofit, argues that PACER fees should be eliminated. Its position is that per-page charging does not fit digital files, Congress could fund the system, and the fees burden legal aid groups, journalists and researchers.

The group also says the Open Courts Act of 2026, introduced by Senators John Kennedy and Ron Wyden, would replace PACER with a free system. The Free Law Project says it and other groups support that bill.

The same article reports that Judge Paul Friedman approved a $125 million settlement in the class action over PACER fees in 2024, and that the Federal Circuit upheld the settlement in March 2026. Those points are attributed to the Free Law Project's account.

Firms should review billing terms before the first 2027 quarter

Firms that pull large volumes of dockets and documents will pay 12 cents per page beginning January 1, subject to the published cap where it applies. Firms that pass PACER charges to clients as costs should review engagement letters and cost schedules that hard-code a 10-cent rate.

Check whether a court has granted your firm or client an exemption. Review the live PACER fee schedule before January 1 and again when the first quarterly bill arrives, because the official schedule had not yet caught up with the announcement when we reviewed it.

Archivar is an operating system for a law firm that manages matters and remembers the work the firm does. A per-matter cost record, including a PACER charge, sits with the same matter as the intake notes and calls handled for that client, including calls answered in English and Spanish at any hour.

The practical change is specific: apply the 12-cent rate to charges accruing from January 1, 2027, use $40 as the quarterly waiver threshold, check exemptions, and update any client billing language that still says 10 cents per page.