Opinion
2:23-cv-00211-GMN-BNW
02-24-2023
SCOTT LOWE, Plaintiff, v. USMS JEFFERSON, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
On February 9, 2023, pro se plaintiff Scott Lowe, an inmate in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, submitted a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and applied to proceed in forma pauperis. (ECF Nos. 1-1, 1). Plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis is incomplete because he did not submit a completed financial certificate with the application. Rather, Plaintiff states that staff have refused to sign his financial certificate. (ECF No. 1 at 3).
I. DISCUSSION
The United States District Court for the District of Nevada must collect filing fees from parties initiating civil actions. 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The fee for filing a civil-rights action is $402, which includes the $350 filing fee and the $52 administrative fee. See Id. at § 1914(b). “Any person who is unable to prepay the fees in a civil case may apply to the court for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.” Nev. Loc. R. LSR 1-1. In forma pauperis status does not relieve an inmate of his or her obligation to pay the filing fee, it just means that the inmate can pay the fee in installments. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b). To apply for in forma pauperis status, the inmate must submit all three of the following documents to the Court: (1) a completed Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis for Inmate, which is pages 1-3 of the Court's approved form, that is properly signed by the inmate twice on page 3; (2) a completed Financial Certificate, which is page 4 of the Court's approved form, that is properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official; and (3) a copy of the inmate's prison or jail trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1)-(2); Nev. Loc. R. LSR 1-2.
In the event Plaintiff is having difficulty obtaining the required completed financial certificate from detention officials, Plaintiff will file a declaration detailing when he requested the document, who he spoke to about the status of the document, who he followed up with about the document, and their responses. Plaintiff's declaration must include dates of his requests, dates of his follow-up requests, names of the detention officials that he spoke to about the matter, and their responses. If Plaintiff's declaration demonstrates that he has done all that was possible to acquire a completed financial certificate from detention officials, the Court will consider his application to proceed in forma pauperis complete.
II. CONCLUSION
It is therefore ordered that Plaintiff has until March 24, 2023 to either pay the full $402 filing fee, file a new fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis with all three required documents, or alternatively if Plaintiff is not able to obtain a completed financial certificate from detention officials, file a declaration detailing the efforts that he took to acquire the financial certificate from detention officials.
Plaintiff is cautioned that this action will be subject to dismissal without prejudice if he fails to timely comply with this order. A dismissal without prejudice allows Plaintiff to refile the case with the Court, under a new case number, when Plaintiff can file a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis or pay the required filing fee.
The Clerk of the Court is directed to send Plaintiff the approved form application to proceed in forma pauperis for an inmate and instructions for the same and retain the complaint (ECF No. 1 -1) but not file it at this time.