Judicial FOIA Expansion Act

Sponsor: Adam B. Schiff (Democratic-CA)July 20, 2026

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Introduced

In Committee

Passed One Chamber

Passed Both Chambers

Signed into Law

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Lets Americans request more records from federal courts and judicial offices.

This bill would let Americans request specific records from most federal courts and judicial offices. Currently, these courts are largely exempt from public information laws. This change would make many judicial records, like attorney disciplinary actions or judge performance reports, more accessible to the public.

What Would Change

Today, most federal courts are not covered by public information laws like the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This means the public has limited ways to get records from them. If this bill became law, it would make many federal courts subject to FOIA and the Privacy Act, allowing the public to request specific records. It would also set aside $10 million for the government's budget year 2027 to help courts handle these new requests.

Key Provisions

Extends public information laws (FOIA and the Privacy Act) to cover most federal courts and judicial offices.
Defines which federal courts and judicial groups, including the Supreme Court and district courts, would be covered by these new rules, but excludes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Requires federal courts to release specific records, such as attorney disciplinary actions, complaints against judges, jury selection forms, and judge performance reports.
Keeps some information private, like details about ongoing court cases or records not held by the courts.
Requires any public records released by courts to be in a machine-readable format, making them easier to analyze.

View on Congress.gov

S 5033 · 119th Congress · July 20, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 9/10

Judicial FOIA Expansion Act

What Would Change

Key Provisions

Lobbying Activity