How to track a federal court case: free and paid ways
Editorial review: . Official sources cited. Text updated: .
Juricio is not an official court website and is not affiliated with the U.S. Courts or PACER. This guide is general information, not legal advice: for a decision about a case, talk to a licensed attorney, and confirm each detail in the official sources cited below.
To track a federal court case is to watch its docket, the court's list of everything filed and decided in the case, for new entries. You can look it up yourself in PACER, read it at the courthouse, follow the court's RSS feed, or let an alert service tell you when something new is filed.
What do you need to start?
The court and the case number. Each federal court keeps its own case records, so with both you go straight to the case in that court's system. Without them, search the PACER Case Locator, the nationwide index of federal cases, by a party's name: it returns the court and the case number (see How to search PACER by party name).
How do you check the docket yourself?
Log in to PACER, open the case in its court and run the docket report. Each page costs $0.10 ($0.12 from January 1, 2027), and a docket report is billed for at most 30 pages. PACER's own tip for repeat visits: limit the report to the dates since you last checked, and leave out the lists of parties and attorneys if you do not need them.
Anyone can register for a PACER account, and registering is free. With a credit card on file the account works at once; without one, PACER mails an activation token, which takes 7 to 10 business days.
Can you track a case for free?
Yes, in several ways:
- At the courthouse. Case files can be viewed for free on the public access terminals in the clerk's office of the court where the case was filed; printing costs $0.10 a page.
- Within PACER's quarterly exemption. No fee is owed for a quarter in which your charges are $30 or less ($40 from January 1, 2027).
- With the court's RSS feed, when the court publishes one: reading it is free (see PACER RSS feeds).
- By phone, in bankruptcy cases. Bankruptcy courts have a free telephone line with basic case information, the Voice Case Information System, open 24 hours; most of them can be reached through the multi-court line, (866) 222-8029.
- Court opinions are free on PACER, and many are also free and text-searchable on GovInfo.
| Way | Cost | Good for | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| PACER docket report | $0.10 a page, at most 30 pages a report | The full, current docket | You have to check it yourself |
| Courthouse terminal | Free to view; $0.10 a page to print | Reading the file without an account | You go to the clerk's office |
| Court RSS feed | Free | New entries as the court publishes them | Not every court publishes one, and some publish only some entry types |
| Bankruptcy phone line | Free | Basic information on a bankruptcy case | Basic information only |
| Alert service | Depends on the service | E-mails without checking | Only as complete as the courts' feeds |
How do you get an alert instead of checking?
Follow the court's RSS feed in a feed reader and look for the case number, or use an alert service that does it for you. On Juricio, members can follow a case and get an e-mail when a new entry appears in the court's feed, usually the same day the court publishes it; Juricio reads priority courts every hour and the others about every 3 hours. Courts with no feed, and the entry types a partial feed leaves out, produce no alert: check those in PACER. The options are compared in PACER alerts: how to get docket alerts.
Search federal cases Courts with RSS feeds
What if the case is old or in a state court?
Most federal cases created before 1999 exist on paper only: ask the court where the case was filed, or look in the Federal Records Centers. State-court cases are not in PACER at all: each state has its own court system, and state courts hear most contract, personal-injury and family cases. Those records are kept by the state courts themselves.
Questions
Is there a free way to track a federal case?
Yes. Case files can be viewed for free on the public access terminals at the courthouse, a court's RSS feed is free to read where it exists, and bankruptcy courts have a free phone line. Online, PACER charges nothing for a quarter in which your charges are $30 or less ($40 from January 1, 2027).
How soon do new cases appear in PACER?
A document is available in the court's system once it is filed or entered. Newly filed cases typically appear in the PACER Case Locator within 24 hours.
Do I need the case number?
It helps: with the court and the case number you go straight to the case. Without it, search the PACER Case Locator by a party's name, which costs $0.10 per page of results.
Do I have to be a party to track a case?
No. Anyone can register for a PACER account and look up federal court records. Parties and their attorneys also receive a free electronic copy of each document filed electronically in their case.
Sources
- PACER: Find a Case FAQs: each court keeps its own records, the PACER Case Locator, when new cases and documents appear, the bankruptcy courts' multi-court phone line (consulted October 22, 2026).
- United States Courts: Find a Case (PACER): public access terminals, paper files of older cases, the Voice Case Information System, court opinions and fees (consulted October 22, 2026).
- PACER Pricing: How fees work: the fee per page, the cap per document and the docket report filters (consulted October 22, 2026).
- United States Courts: Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule: in force since January 1, 2020: the 30-page cap, the quarterly exemption, the free copy for parties and the fee to print at a courthouse terminal (consulted October 22, 2026).
- United States Courts: Judiciary Approves Funding for Case Management and Public Access Modernization: news release of June 26, 2026: the fee per page and the quarterly exemption from January 1, 2027 (consulted October 22, 2026).
- PACER: Register for an account (PACER – Case Search Only): registration, its cost and the activation token (consulted October 22, 2026).
- PACER: Court Opinions: free opinions on PACER and through the Government Publishing Office (consulted October 22, 2026).
- United States Courts: Comparing Federal & State Courts: federal and state court systems and the cases state courts hear (consulted October 22, 2026).