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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Question:
How do I get access to docket sheets?
Answer: Docket information for the Northern District of California is available five ways:
- via the PACER system online at http://pacer.cand.uscourts.gov/ for ciminal and miscellaneous cases, and civil cases filed prior to 4/1/2001
- via the ECF web site at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/ for civil cases filed after 4/1/2001; you still need a PACER account to retrieve information from the ECF site
- If you are located outside the district, and are not a PACER subscriber, you can use a copy service
to make photocopies of a file or pleading. In San Francisco, the court regularly uses the services of
Eddie's Document Retrieval.; you may reach them at 415-317-5556 or online at www.edrsf.com.
In San Jose, the court regularly uses the services of Pacific Research & Retrieval, who may be reached at 408-295-6800.
You must register to become a PACER user before you can use either the Web or dialup versions of PACER.
PACER registration is free. Retrievals are billed at a cost of $.07 per page with a maximum charge of $2.10
per document or docket sheet. Click here to go to the PACER Service Center Website to register.
What's on PACER?
Docket information for the Northern District of California is available for
all civil cases filed since August of 1990. Docket information for criminal cases
is available for all cases filed since August of 1991. For both civil and
criminal cases, many, but not all, cases filed prior to those dates may be
available. The dockets for miscellaneous cases are available for the same
date ranges.
Dockets are updated every night. The updates are typically, but not always,
complete by about midnight Pacific time. When you retrieve a PACER docket
what you get is the docket as it stood at the close of the previous business day.
For newer civil cases filed since 4/1/2001 that are found at our ECF site, docket information is available
on all those cases. For some of those cases which have been designated for electronic filing,
documents are also available on-line. You can recognize those documents by the fact that
their document numbers are hyperlinks (blue and underlined). Docket information on the
ECF site is real-time: it reflects all filings made, including those made earlier on the day you
retrieve it.
If you have problems with the Northern District of California's PACER operations, please
call us at 866.638.7829. We cannot help with problems concerning your PACER account;
for those, please call the PACER Service Center at (800) 676-6856.
Users may search by case number or party name, or for all cases filed within a specified
range of dates.
The system allows users to:
- Obtain a copy of a docket.
- Review electronic docket entries.
- Verify the date of entry of orders.
- Download case information for later review.
A National Index of Party/Case Information is available to aid in searching for litigants in multiple districts.
Registered PACER users may find the index at http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/uspci.html
or by dialing in at 800-974-8896.
"PACER" stands for Public Access to Court Electronic Records.
PACER Information and Registration
Users must register to use PACER. You may register online at http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/
or by calling the PACER Service Center at (800) 676-6856, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. CST
(Monday -Friday).
Local and Toll-Free PACER Telephone Numbers
The following telephone numbers may be used for dialup access to PACER for the
Northern District of California after an account has been established:
Toll-free: 888-877-5863
Local (SF): 415/522-2144
National Party/Case Index: 800-974-8896
Fees for PACER access to electronic records at either web site
- Internet access to PACER is billed at 7 cents per page. A page is defined as 54 lines of
data. There is a maximum charge of $2.10 per document even if the number of pages exceeds
thirty.
- Until the installation of our "version 1" e-filing software, expected in late 2003, there is no charge for
any retrieval of docket sheets or documents from the e-filing ("ECF") system.
- Dialup access to PACER is billed at 60¢ per minute of access time. Billing begins
after a successful log-in.
Equipment for dial-up PACER
The following equipment is required:
1. A computer.
2. A modem. The system will accept any baud rate from 2400 through 38400.
3. Communications software. A terminal emulation package is required such as
PC Anywhere, Procomm, Crosstalk, Smartcom or Bitcom.
4. A printer. (Required to print a hard copy of any information a user has
received.)
5. Internet access is required for the Web version of PACER.
For best results using dialup PACER, set your communications software Terminal
Emulation to "vt100". Set your software's Flow Control to use RTS/CTS .
