Effective August 23, 2021, the United States District Court for the Southern District of
Illinois updated its software to the Next Generation of CM/ECF or “NextGen.” To
electronically file in the Southern District, attorneys admitted to the bar of this Court,
including those admitted pro hac vice or those authorized to represent the United States
or any local or state government, must have an updated, individual Public Access to Court
Electronic Records account, otherwise known as “PACER.” The PACER username and
password issued to an individual attorney, not a law firm or administrator, must be used
for the retrieval and filing of official court documents. Please note, PACER accounts are
not maintained by the Court; therefore, any changes to a username, password, firm name,
address, email, or phone number must be made through PACER. In addition, when
changing any type of contact information, the attorney must instruct PACER to share that
updated information with the Court. For any assistance with an account, please contact
PACER at 1-800-676-6856 or www.pacer.gov.
If the Court permits, a party to a pending civil action who is not represented by an attorney
(also known as a pro se party), may register as a Pro Se Filing User in the ECF system. Those
granted Pro Se Filing User privileges must register for an e-file only account via
www.pacer.gov. Pro Se Filing User privileges are case specific; pro se filers must seek prior
Court approval in each unique case filed. For more information regarding pro se filings via
the ECF system, please consult the Court’s Pro Se Litigant Guide available on the Court’s
website.
No attorney or other Filing User may knowingly permit or cause to permit a Filing User’s
password to be used by anyone other than an authorized agent of that Filing User. If an
attorney or Filing User comes to believe the security of their existing password has been
compromised, they should change that password immediately via www.pacer.gov and
notify the CM/ECF Help Desk at (866) 867-3169 or (866) 222-2104. Filing Users may be
subject to sanctions for failure to comply with this provision.
PACER registration as a Filing User constitutes consent to electronic service of all
documents as provided in these rules in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
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