How to Search Federal Court Records for Free (PACER Guide)
Federal court records — civil, criminal, and bankruptcy cases filed in U.S. district, appellate, and bankruptcy courts — are public. The primary way to access them is PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records). With a little setup, you can search dockets and pull filings across the entire federal court system, often for free.
What is PACER?
PACER is the federal judiciary's electronic public access service. It provides case and docket information from federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. Each court maintains its own records, and PACER lets you search across them through a single login.
Step 1: Register for a PACER account
Go to the official PACER site (pacer.uscourts.gov) and register for an account. Registration is free. You will provide identifying information and a payment method, which is only charged if you exceed the free usage threshold (see below). Choose a case-search-only account if you do not need to file documents.
Step 2: Understand the fees — and the fee waiver
PACER charges a small per-page fee for viewing documents and search results (currently $0.10 per page, capped per document). However, if you accrue less than a set amount in a quarter (recently $30.00), the fees are waived entirely — meaning most casual users pay nothing. Court opinions are always free. For heavier or research use, you can apply to the court for a fee exemption by showing the access serves scholarly or public-interest purposes.
Step 3: Use the Case Locator to find a case
Start with the PACER Case Locator, a national index that searches across courts. You can search by party name, case number, filing date range, and court type. This is the fastest way to find which court a case lives in before drilling into that court's individual system.
Step 4: Read the docket and pull filings
Once you open a case, the docket sheet lists every filing in chronological order. From there you can view or download individual documents. Be strategic — since fees are per page, scan the docket first and pull only the documents you actually need.
Search tips
Search by exact party name and try variations, since businesses may be listed under slightly different legal names. Narrow by date range and court to cut down on results and cost. Remember that PACER covers federal courts only — state and county cases are in separate state systems.
State and county courts
Most lawsuits are filed in state court, not federal court, so PACER is only half the picture. For state and local cases, you will use each jurisdiction's own court portal. The Searchadex court records pages explain where to search at each level, and the federal records directory covers PACER and other federal databases.
The bottom line
PACER makes the entire federal court system searchable from one account, and for most people the cost is zero thanks to the quarterly fee waiver. Combine it with state and county court portals for complete coverage. Searchadex links to PACER and the official court portals you need — free, with no paid middleman.
Searchadex links only to official government and verified sources. We do not charge for searches and do not resell your data.