Opinion
09-cv-0353-bbc.
June 5, 2009
ORDER
Petitioner, a prisoner at the New Lisbon Correctional Institution, has filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He requests leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Although petitioner has supported his request with an affidavit of indigency, I cannot determine whether petitioner is indigent for the purpose of filing a § 2254 petition until he submits a trust fund account statement for the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of his habeas corpus petition. Rule 3(a)(2) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases (requiring prisoner to submit certificate from prison official showing amount of money that petitioner has in any institution account); Longbehn v. United States, 169 F.3d 1082 (7th Cir. 1999).
Once petitioner submits his trust fund account statement, this court will calculate petitioner's average monthly deposits and his average monthly balances for the six-month period mentioned above. If 20% of the greater of these two figures is $5 or more, he will not be eligible for indigent status and will have to prepay all of the $5 filing fee. If 20% of the greater of these two figures is less than $5, he will be required to prepay whatever portion less than $5 has been calculated.
Now that petitioner is aware of the formula this court uses in determining whether a prisoner is indigent for the purpose of paying a $5 filing fee, he may be able to figure easily whether he qualifies. If he knows that he will not qualify for indigent status, he may elect to submit a check or money order made payable to the clerk of court in the amount of $5 in lieu of the six-month statement requested above. In any event, petitioner should act quickly. If, by June 26, 2009, petitioner does not submit either the $5 payment or a trust fund account statement for the last six months, his request for leave to proceed in forma pauperis will be denied and this action will be closed.