28 U.S.C. § 1923
Section 1923 · Docket fees and costs of briefs
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 137 court decisions — leading case Alyeska Pipeline Service Company v. Wilderness Society (1975)
Most recently applied in Craig Moskowitz v. American Savings Bank (June 2022)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 28 U.S.C. § 1920 · 28 U.S.C. § 1821 · 28 U.S.C. § 1828
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.
(a) Attorney's and proctor's docket fees in courts of the United States may be taxed as costs as follows:
$20 on trial or final hearing (including a default judgment whether entered by the court or by the clerk) in civil, criminal, or admiralty cases, except that in cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction where the libellant recovers less than $50 the proctor's docket fee shall be $10;
$20 in admiralty appeals involving not over $1,000;
$50 in admiralty appeals involving not over $5,000;
$100 in admiralty appeals involving more than $5,000;
$5 on discontinuance of a civil action;
$5 on motion for judgment and other proceedings on recognizances;
$2.50 for each deposition admitted in evidence.
(b) The docket fees of United States attorneys and United States trustees shall be paid to the clerk of court and by him paid into the Treasury.
(c) In admiralty appeals the court may allow as costs for printing the briefs of the successful party not more than:
$25 where the amount involved is not over $1,000;
$50 where the amount involved is not over $5,000;
$75 where the amount involved is over $5,000.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§571, 572, and 578 (R.S. §§823, 824; May 28, 1896, ch. 252, §§6, 24, 29 Stat. 179, 186; Feb. 26, 1919, ch. 49, §1, 40 Stat. 1182; July 19, 1919, ch. 24, §1, 41 Stat. 209; Feb. 11, 1921, ch. 46, 41 Stat. 1099; June 6, 1930, ch. 409, 46 Stat. 522; Aug. 3, 1935, ch. 431, §1, 49 Stat. 513).
Section consolidates sections 571, 572, and 578 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed.
The phrase “$20 on trial or final hearing in civil, criminal, or admiralty cases” was substituted for the following provisions of section 572 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., “On trial before a jury, in civil or criminal causes or before referees, or on a final hearing in equity or admiralty, a docket fee of $20”, and the limitation of $10 in “cases at law when judgment is rendered without a jury” was omitted. This simplified restatement provides for a single docket fee in each case which reaches final hearing or trial. Since the docket fee is arbitrary, any limitation or distinction between law cases tried with or without a jury is unrealistic.
Word “solicitor” was omitted as obsolete and inapplicable in civil, criminal, or admiralty practice.
Words “motion for judgment” were substituted for “scire facias” to conform to Rules 2 and 81 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Changes were made in phraseology.
Codification
Section 408(c) of Pub. L. 95–598, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2687, as amended by Pub. L. 98–166, title II, §200, Nov. 28, 1983, 97 Stat. 1081; Pub. L. 98–353, title III, §323, July 10, 1984, 98 Stat. 358; Pub. L. 99–429, Sept. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 985; Pub. L. 99–500, §101(b) [title II, §200], Oct. 18, 1986, 100 Stat. 1783–39, 1783–45, and Pub. L. 99–591, §101(b) [title II, §200], Oct. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 3341–39, 3341–45; Pub. L. 99–554, title III, §307(a), Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3125, which provided for the deletion of any references to United States Trustees in this title at a prospective date, was repealed by Pub. L. 99–554, title III, §307(b), Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3125.
Amendments
1978—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 95–598 inserted “and United States trustees” after “United States attorneys”.
1954—Subsec. (a). Act June 18, 1954, inserted in first item “including a default judgment whether entered by the court or by the clerk” after “final hearing”.
Effective Date of 1978 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 95–598 effective Oct. 1, 1979, see section 402(c) of Pub. L. 95–598, set out as an Effective Date note preceding section 101 of Title 11, Bankruptcy.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Admiralty and maritime rules of practice (which included libel procedures) were superseded, and civil and admiralty procedures in United States district courts were unified, effective July 1, 1966, see rule 1 and Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims, Appendix to this title.
Application of, see rule 81.
Depositions, see rules 26 to 32.
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Depositions, see rule 15, Title 18, Appendix, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.
Cross References
Taxation of costs—
Admiralty cases, see section 1925 of this title.
Criminal cases, see section 1918 of this title.