Opinion
3:23-CV-5496-JCC
07-25-2023
KRISTOPHER S. STARKGRAF, Plaintiff, v. BRIAN HAUGE, et al., Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS
David W. Christel, Chief United States Magistrate Judge
The Court directed Plaintiff Kristopher Starkgraf to file a prison trust account statement to correct the deficiencies of his application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP). Plaintiff has filed a Motion for Enlargement/Extension of Deadline requesting an extension of time to file the trust account statement. Dkt. 9. Plaintiff states the Pierce County Jail, where he is incarcerated, no longer provides trust account statements. Id. For purposes of granting IFP in this case, the Court takes judicial notice of the trust account statement Plaintiff filed in a separate case initiated on the same date as this action. See Starkgraf v. Inslee, et al., 3:23-cv-5487-RJB-SKV (W.D. Wash.) at Dkt. 1-2. His prisoner trust account statement shows he had $100.09 in his account at the time he initiated this lawsuit. Id. Therefore, the Court finds Plaintiff's Application to Proceed IFP is ready for consideration and the Motion for Enlargement (Dkt. 9) is denied as moot.
After consideration of the relevant record, Plaintiff does not appear to have funds available to afford the $402 filing fee and, therefore, financially qualifies for IFP status pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). Accordingly, Plaintiff's IFP application (Dkt. 6) is GRANTED. However, based on the allegations in the proposed complaint, it does not appear Plaintiff has adequately stated a claim. Therefore, the undersigned recommends review under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) before issuance of summons.
Because Plaintiff is incarcerated, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915 and Plaintiff's approved application to proceed in forma pauperis, the agency having custody of the above-named Plaintiff is directed to calculate an initial partial filing fee equal to 20 percent of the greater of either: (a) the average monthly deposits to the prisoner's account; or (b) the average monthly balance in the prisoner's account for the 6-month period immediately preceding the date of this Order. The initial partial filing fee should be forwarded to the Clerk of Court as soon as practicable.
Subsequently, if the prisoner's account exceeds $10.00, each month the agency having custody of the prisoner is directed to collect and forward payments equal to 20 percent of the prisoner's preceding month's income credited to the prisoner's account. In the event that the monthly payment would reduce the prisoner's account below $10.00, the agency should collect and forward only that amount which would reduce the prisoner's account to the $10.00 level. Please note this $10.00 limit does not apply to the initial partial filing fee described above. Finally, the monthly payments should be collected and forwarded to the Court until the entire filing fee ($350.00) for this matter has been paid.
The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Order to the District Judge assigned to this case, to Plaintiff, and to the financial officer of this Court. The Clerk is also directed to send a copy of this Order and a copy of Plaintiff's Acknowledgment and Authorization portion of the IFP application, and to the agency having custody of plaintiff.