Opinion
Civil Action No. 18-12001 (NLH)
09-28-2018
ANDRE BOYER, Petitioner, v. WARDEN SOUTH WOODS STATE PRISON, Respondent.
APPEARANCE: Andre Boyer, No. 258063/57420A South Woods State Prison 215 South Burlington Road Bridgeton, NJ 08302 Petitioner Pro se
OPINION APPEARANCE:
Andre Boyer, No. 258063/57420A
South Woods State Prison
215 South Burlington Road
Bridgeton, NJ 08302
Petitioner Pro se HILLMAN, District Judge
Pro Se Petitioner Andre Boyer, a prisoner presently incarcerated at the South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New Jersey, seeks to bring this Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, without prepayment of the filing fee or the submission of an application to proceed in forma pauperis. See ECF No. 1 (Petition).
Required Form
Local Civil Rule 81.2 provides:
Unless prepared by counsel, petitions to this Court for a writ of habeas corpus . . . shall be in writing (legibly handwritten in ink or typewritten), signed by the petitioner or movant, on forms supplied by the Clerk.L. Civ. R. 81.2(a). Petitioner did not use the required habeas form supplied by the Clerk for § 2254 petitions, i.e., AO 241 (modified):DNJ-Habeas-008(Rev.01-2014). See ECF No. 1. As a result, the Court will administratively terminate this matter and require Petitioner to submit his Petition on the correct form.
Filing Fee
The filing fee for a petition for writ of habeas corpus is $5.00. Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 54.3(a), the filing fee is required to be paid at the time the petition is presented for filing. Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 81.2(b), whenever a prisoner submits a petition for writ of habeas corpus and seeks to proceed in forma pauperis, that petitioner must submit (a) an affidavit setting forth information which establishes that the petitioner is unable to pay the fees and costs of the proceedings, and (b) a certification signed by an authorized officer of the institution certifying (1) the amount presently on deposit in the prisoner's prison account and, (2) the greatest amount on deposit in the prisoner's institutional account during the six-month period prior to the date of the certification. If the institutional account of the petitioner exceeds $200, the petitioner shall not be considered eligible to proceed in forma pauperis. L. Civ. R. 81.2(c).
Here, Petitioner did not prepay the $5.00 filing fee for a habeas petition as required by Local Civil Rule 54.3(a), nor did Petitioner submit a complete application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Petitioner must either submit the filing fee or a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis.
Conclusion
The Court will administratively terminate this matter and require Petitioner to submit his Petition on the correct form and with either the required filing fee or a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis. An appropriate order follows. Dated: September 28, 2018
At Camden, New Jersey
Without making any findings, the Court notes that § 2254 requires that all grounds must first be exhausted in state court, 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b), and the petition must be filed within one year of the conviction becoming final, 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1). --------
s/ Noel L. Hillman
NOEL L. HILLMAN, U.S.D.J.