Liddle et al v. Slaughter

Filing 7

ORDER denying 6 Request for Refund of Filing Fee. Signed on 6/20/2017 by District Judge Roseann Ketchmark. (DO)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
SOUTHERN DIVISION
CHARLES LIDDLE, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
LINDA SLAUGHTER,
Defendant.

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) No. 17-03150-CV-S-RK
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ORDER

Before the Court is the Request for Refund of Filing Fee. (Doc. 6.) On May 31, 2017,
Defendant filed a Notice of Removal (doc. 1), removing this action from state court based on
diversity of citizenship. One day later, Defendant filed a Request to Withdraw Removal (doc. 4),
stating that “the removal was mistakenly requested on the preliminary belief that Defendant was
not a resident of the State of Missouri.” The next day, pursuant to the forum defendant rule, the
Court remanded this action to state court. Defendant now seeks a refund of the $400.00 fee she
paid to file the notice of removal.
Upon review, the Court finds no basis to refund the filing fee. Per 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a), a
party instituting a civil action by removal must pay a filing fee. Neither Section 1914 nor the
Local Rules include any provision for the refund of a filing fee. Here, the fee was not paid in
error, as Defendant intended to file the notice of removal. The fact that she was mistaken about
the asserted basis for removal does not mean the fee was paid erroneously. See Peters v. Wells
Fargo, No. 15-4602, 2016 WL 1211798 at *2 (D. Minn. Mar. 8, 2016). Furthermore, the court
resources for which the filing fees are collected, i.e. opening the case, have already been
expended, along with additional resources to address Defendant’s subsequent requests.
Accordingly, the Request for Refund of Filing Fee (doc. 6) is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/ Roseann A. Ketchmark
ROSEANN A. KETCHMARK, JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DATED: June 20, 2017