The Bankruptcy Court in Hawaii has imaged all documents in cases filed since January 1, 1998. These documents are available on the Internet, to persons using the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) program. This program is not free. However, there are several good reasons to use PACER to retrieve documents, rather than coming to the court: 1) Users are charged eight cents per page for documents viewed with no additional charge for printing the information, compared to a 10 cent charge if the document is viewed and printed at the Clerk's office. (2) Users are only billed if they exceed $10.00 in charges in a calendar year. (3) This is the fastest method of getting documents for persons not living on Oahu. Once you register for PACER (provided you enter a credit card authorization for payment), you will get a login and password the same day. You can then immediately use PACER to access documents you need, and print them. (4) A PACER account provides access to dockets of other federal courts throughout the United States.

NOTE! – Only cases filed in 1998 and later were imaged. Documents from cases filed before that date must be ordered from the archives at the Federal Records Center in San Bruno, CA. See below for more information on retrieving archived paper documents.

Here is what you need to do in order to register for PACER and to access the documents you wish to copy.

Step 1: PACER Registration

1. Go to the PACER Service Center site at: http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov.
2. Click on the button which says “Register for PACER”. You will see an informational page stating that you will get a login and password by email, if you enter in a credit card number when registering. If you do not, the login information will be sent by mail.
3. Complete the information and submit it.
   

Step 2: Logging into PACER

• When you receive you login and password, you can go to the PACER site to login: http://pacer.hib.uscourts.gov.
• On the page which opens, click this hyperlink: "District of Hawaii - Document Filing System" .
• Enter your login and password where indicated.
• You will get the CM/ECF screen.
  

Step 3: Finding the Documents in a Case File

• On the CM/ECF page, click the word “Query” on the blue bar at the top of the page. The Query page will open.
• You can search for a case by (1) Case Number, or by (2) Name of the Debtor or by (3) Social Security Number of the debtor. Fill in the information as directed and then click on the “Run Query” button. (Note – You do not need to fill in all of the boxes– just the case number, name, or SSN.)
• From the screen which now appears, click on the “Docket Report...” hyperlink.
• You do not need to select anything on this page. Click on the “Run Report” button. You will be charged eight cents per page for opening this report.
• A docket report for the case you have selected, will open. This report lists all documents filed in the case. There should be a blue underlined number next to the description of the document. If you click on this number, the document will open. You will be charged eight cents per page for any documents which you open. You may print the documents when opened, for which there is no additional charge.
• If you wish to print multiple documents, use your browser Back button to get back to the docket sheet, and continue to open documents that you wish to print.

If you have problems and need assistance in finding cases or documents, contact us.

If you need copies of documents from a case which is now closed, first email or call the court at (808) 522-8100 Ext. 128, to find out whether the files have already been sent for storage at the Federal Records Center (FRC) in San Bruno, CA. If so, you may either get copies directly from the FRC, or you may need to request that the file be returned to the court in Honolulu so that copies can be made here. The FRC will only provide copies of documents from closed individual consumer cases, not business cases. If you need copies certified, specify this in your request.

Option1: Order copies from the FRC.
The least expensive option will always be to order the copies directly from the FRC. Call the court at the number listed above to get specific location information about the files. Once you have obtained this information, fill out the FRC Request Form and include this location information. This form contains instructions on how to submit your form to FRC. If you want additional information, visit FRC's web site.

Option 2: Have the files sent to our office.
Send us a letter requesting that we retrieve the case file and include the following:

• Name of the debtor(s)
• Case Number (if you know the number) or year the case was filed
• Your name, address, and telephone number
• A check for $45.00 made out to "Clerk, U.S. Bankruptcy Court"
• Send the above to:

  FRC Request
  U.S. Bankruptcy Court
  1132 Bishop Street, Suite 250-L
  Honolulu, HI 96813

It may take several weeks before the file is delivered to the court. When the file arrives, we will contact you and you may then visit the court or order the copies. The cost of the copies is 50 cents per page.