Jones v. San Diego Sheriffs Dept.

• Court: District Court, S.D. California
• Decided: March 28, 2025
• Docket: 3:25-cv-00289
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 TERRELL M. JONES, Case No: 25-cv-00289-BAS-KSC Booking #24736966, 12 ORDER: Plaintiff, 13 v. (1) DENYING MOTION TO 14 PROCEED IN FORMA

15 PAUPERIS (ECF No. 2); AND SAN DIEGO SHERIFFS DEP’T, 16 Defendant. (2) DISMISSING CIVIL 17 ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR FAILURE 18 TO PAY FILING FEES 19 REQUIRED BY 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) 20 21 22 Terrell M. Jones (“Plaintiff”), a detainee proceeding pro se, has filed a civil rights 23 complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (ECF No. 1.) In lieu of paying the filing fee 24 required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a), Plaintiff filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis 25 (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). (ECF No. 2.) For the reasons discussed below, 26 the Court denies Plaintiff’s IFP motion and dismisses the action without prejudice. 27 28 1 I. IFP MOTION 2 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 3 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 4 $405.1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The action may proceed despite a failure to pay the entire 5 fee at the time of filing only if the district court grants the plaintiff leave to proceed IFP 6 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 7 2007); cf. Hymas v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 73 F.4th 763, 765 (9th Cir. 2023) (“[W]here 8 [an] IFP application is denied altogether, Plaintiff’s case [cannot] proceed unless and until 9 the fee[s] [a]re paid.”). 10 To proceed IFP, prisoners must “submit[] an affidavit that includes a statement of 11 all assets [they] possess[,]” as well as “a certified copy of the[ir] trust fund account 12 statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 6-month period immediately preceding 13 the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1)–(2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 14 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). Using this financial information, the court “assess[es] and, when 15 funds exist, collect[s], . . . an initial partial filing fee[,]” which is “calculated based on ‘the 16 average monthly deposits to the prisoner’s account’ or ‘the average monthly balance in the 17 prisoner’s account’ over a 6-month term; the remainder of the fee is to be paid in ‘monthly 18 payments of 20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited to the prisoner’s 19 account.’” Hymas, 73 F.4th at 766 n.3 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)–(2)). In short, 20 while prisoners may qualify to proceed IFP without having to pay the full statutory filing 21 upfront, they remain obligated to pay the full amount due in monthly payments. See Bruce 22 v. Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84 (2016); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)–(2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 23 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 24

25 26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must also pay an administrative fee of $55. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee 27 Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2023). The additional $55 administrative fee does not apply to persons 28 granted leave to proceed IFP. Id. 1 Here, Plaintiff's IFP Motion is incomplete because he has not included a certified 2 || copy of his trust account statement for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing 3 his Complaint. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2. Without a certified 4 || trust account statement, the Court is unable to assess whether any initial partial filing fee 5 be required to initiate the prosecution of Plaintiff’s case. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). 6 CONCLUSION AND ORDER 7 Accordingly, the Court: 8 (1) DENIES Plaintiff's Motion to Proceed IFP (ECF No. 2) and DISMISSES the 9 || action without prejudice. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(a) & 1914(a). 10 (2) GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days from the date of this Order to re-open 11 case by either: (a) prepaying the entire $405 civil filing and administrative fee in one 12 ||lump-sum; or (b) filing a renewed Motion to Proceed IFP, which includes a prison 13 || certificate, signed by a trust accounting official attesting as to his trust account balances 14 || and deposits and/or a certified copy of his Inmate Statement Report for the 6-month period 15 || preceding the filing of his Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) and S.D. Cal. 16 || CivLR 3.2(b). 17 If Plaintiff chooses not to comply with this Order by either paying the $405 civil 18 || filing fee and administrative fee in full or submitting a properly supported IFP Motion 19 || within forty-five (45) days, this case will remain dismissed without prejudice and without 20 || further order of the Court based on Plaintiffs failure to comply with 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 21 (3) DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to provide Plaintiff with this Court’s 22 ||approved form “Motion and Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed In Forma 23 || Pauperis.” 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 | 26 || DATED: March 28, 2025 (Dyhark 77 H n. Cynthia Bashant, Chief Judge United States District Court 28 -3-