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Media Accounts

The Court offers CM/ECF Media Accounts so that account holders may designate specific cases for which to receive email Notices of Electronic Filing (NEFs) of case activity. This incorporates the same CM/ECF mechanism (email configuration) as for attorney users, who may also designate cases other than their own for which NEFs are to be received.  A media noticing account is designed to permit an individual employed by a newspaper, television, radio, or other media organization to apply for a read-only media account to access the District of Montana’s Electronic Filing System/PACER. The Court reserves the right to grant, deny, or withdraw access to the system at any time without advanced notice.

Detailed instructions for using media accounts is included in the Guide to Using CM/ECF Media Accounts.

Below is a general overview of how to obtain and utilize a media account.

Submitting Registration Form & PACER Registration Request

Step
Action
1
Complete the Media Account Registration Form and email it with your press credentials to MTD_registration@mtd.uscourts.gov.
It is imperative that we receive this registration form and your press credentials so we can approve your Montana CM/ECF account in PACER.
2
Navigate to pacer.uscourts.gov. Mouse over the Manage Your Account panel under What can we help you accomplish? and click on Manage My Account Login.
Click the Log in to Manage My Account button and log in with your upgraded PACER credentials.
3
Click on the Maintenance tab. 
  • Click the Non-Attorney E-File Registration link.
  • Complete all sections of E-File Registration
    • For Court Type select U.S. District Courts.
    • For Court select Montana District Court.
    • For Role in Court, select Party.
    • Check the acknowledgement box.
  • Under Delivery Method and Formatting choose your preferred e-mail frequency and email format.
IMPORTANT: Type MEDIA or MEDIA ACCOUNT in the Firm/Office Field.
  • Enter Payment Information, click Next. (This section is optional, you can just click Next to bypass).
  • Read the E-Filing Terms of Use. Click to mark both acknowledgments at the bottom.
  • Click Submit. Your e-file registration will be processed.  You will receive an email notification from the U.S. District Court of Montana regarding the status of your registration, as well as any additional information or instructions at the email address provided.

Configuring Email Settings & Adding Cases to Receive Notice

Step
Action
1
Login to the Court’s CM/ECF system using your PACER username and password.
On the blue program menu line across the top of the page, click on “Utilities” and then “Maintain Your Email”:
2
Click on the email address that you would like to add a watchlist for.
3
Enter a case number under ‘Add additional cases for noticing’, then click ‘Find this case’. When the ‘Add case(s) button appears, you may click it to add it to your ‘watchlist.’
 
Select whether or not to receive individual NEFs for activity in cases (“Per Filing”) or to receive a single daily “Summary Report” of activity in all cases entered.
 
NOTE: In order to receive NEFs immediately upon filing with the court, keep the default “Per Filing” setting.
 
When entering case numbers, use the following format:
2:15-cv-123 for civil cases, or
2:15-cr-123 for criminal cases
Or other case numbers as appropriate
 
Both civil and criminal cases may be included for noticing. When adding a criminal case with multiple defendants, the “Select a case” confirmation screen requires each defendant to be selected as a separate case):
4
Repeat for other cases as needed
5
Click Submit to save your selections
6
If desired, the procedure above may also be used to establish one or more secondary email addresses associated with the media account, each of which may have specific cases designated for noticing.

Accessing Case Documents from NEFs

Step
Action
1
When the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) is received by email, the message displays the type of docketed event (e.g., motion or order), the text of the docket entry, and hyperlinks to the document and case number associated with the filing.
2
If the recipient’s email program and web browser are properly configured, clicking on the document hyperlink in the email message should launch the web browser, and display the Court’s CM/ECF – PACER login page. In order to view the case document (and any attachments), a PACER account must be used.
3
Once authenticated as a PACER user, the PDF document should be displayed. Similarly, clicking on the case number hyperlink will display the entire docket sheet for the case.
PACER billing fees apply for access to both case documents and docket sheets.
4
NOTE: Although a NEF is received by media account holders, some case documents may not be available to PACER users. Certain documents in Social Security appeals cases, transcripts or other documents may be restricted. Contact the ECF Help Desk for more information on specific document restrictions.

Questions may be answered in the Guide to Using CM/ECF Media Accounts or may be directed to the ECF Help Desk at (866) 463-4052.