Opinion
2:23-cv-00592-GMN-BNW
04-20-2023
Benjamin Petras, Plaintiff v. William Gittere, et al., Defendants
ORDER
BRENDA WEKSLER, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Pro se Plaintiff Benjamin Petras, an inmate in the custody of the Nevada Department of Corrections (“NDOC”), has submitted a civil-rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and applied to proceed in forma pauperis. ECF Nos. 1-1, 1. The application to proceed in forma pauperis is incomplete because Plaintiff did not include a financial certificate or six-month inmate trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period with the application. See ECF No. 1.
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 28 U.S.C. § 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. For an inmate 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 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).
Accordingly, for the reasons stated above, IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff has until June 20, 2023 to either pay the full $402 filing fee or complete his application to proceed in forma pauperis by filing a completed financial certificate that is signed both by the inmate and the prison or jail official and a copy of the inmate's trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period. Even if Plaintiff has not been at an NDOC facility for a full six-month period, he must still submit a financial certificate and an inmate account statement for the dates he has been in NDOC custody.
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 either 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 Benjamin Petras the approved form application to proceed in forma pauperis for an inmate and instructions for the same, and to retain the complaint and exhibits (ECF No. 1-1) but not file them at this time.