28 U.S.C. § 1917
Section 1917 · District courts; fee on filing notice of or petition for appeal
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 44 court decisions — leading case Parissi v. Telechron, Inc. (1955)
Most recently applied in Jordan Whitaker v. Michael Dempsey (October 2023)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Upon the filing of any separate or joint notice of appeal or application for appeal or upon the receipt of any order allowing, or notice of the allowance of, an appeal or of a writ of certiorari $5 shall be paid to the clerk of the district court, by the appellant or petitioner.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §552 (Feb. 11, 1925, ch. 204, §5, 43 Stat. 857; Jan. 31, 1928, ch. 14, §1, 45 Stat. 54; Sept. 27, 1944, ch. 414, §3, 58 Stat. 744).
Words “to the clerk of the district court” were added to clarify the intent of Congress, as shown by the title of the 1944 act containing this section, and by the text of such Act in its entirety.
Words “as an additional fee in said suit or action, or proceeding in bankruptcy” were omitted. The entire text of the basic 1944 act shows that Congress intended it to apply to all actions, suits and proceedings, including bankruptcy proceedings, and nowhere else in such act is any reference made to bankruptcy proceedings.
Changes were made in phraseology.