Lankford v. City of Hendersonville, Tennessee et al

Filing 4

ORDER: The application (Docket No. 2 ) is hereby GRANTED. The plaintiff is hereby assessed the full $350 filing fee. Accordingly, all claims and defendants are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Signed by Chief Judge Kevin H. Sharp on 5/7/15. (xc:Pro se party, Administrator, by regular and certified mail.) (DOCKET TEXT SUMMARY ONLY-ATTORNEYS MUST OPEN THE PDF AND READ THE ORDER.)(afs)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION
JOHN PIERCE LANKFORD (#259480)

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Plaintiff,
v.
CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE,
TENNESSEE, et al.,
Defendants.

No. 3:15-cv-00512
Chief Judge Sharp

ORDER
Plaintiff John Pierce Lankford, an inmate at the Robertson County Detention Center in
Springfield, Tennessee, brings this pro se civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against
the City of Hendersonville, Tennessee; the Hendersonville Police Department; R. Abel, a former
Hendersonville police officer; S. King and T. Holman, Hendersonville police officers; Sonny
Weatherford, Sheriff of Sumner County; Sonya Troutt, Sumner County Jail Administrator; and
Southern Health Partners, the Sumner County Jail contracted health care provider. (Docket No. 1).
The plaintiff has filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis. (Docket No. 2).
Under the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), a prisoner bringing a civil
action may be permitted to file suit without prepaying the filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a).
Because it appears from his submissions that the plaintiff lacks sufficient financial resources from
which to pay the full filing fee in advance, the application (Docket No. 2) is hereby GRANTED.
However, under § 1915(b), the plaintiff nonetheless remains responsible for paying the full
filing fee. The obligation to pay the fee accrues at the time the case is filed, but the PLRA provides
prisoner-plaintiffs the opportunity to make a “down payment” of a partial filing fee and to pay the
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remainder in installments. Accordingly, the plaintiff is hereby assessed the full $350 filing fee, to
be paid as follows:
(1) The custodian of the plaintiff’s inmate trust fund account at the institution where he now
resides is DIRECTED to submit to the Clerk of Court, as an initial payment, “20 percent of the
greater of – (a) the average monthly deposits to the plaintiff’s account; or (b) the average monthly
balance in the plaintiff’s account for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the
complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1).
(2) After the initial filing fee is fully paid, the trust fund officer must withdraw from the
plaintiff’s account and pay to the Clerk of this Court monthly payments equal to 20% of all deposits
credited to the plaintiff’s account during the preceding month, but only when the amount in the
account exceeds $10. Such payments must continue until the entire $350 filing fee is paid in full.
28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2).
(3) Each time the trust account officer makes a payment to this court as required by this
order, he must print a copy of the prisoner’s account statement showing all activity in the account
since the last payment made in accordance with this order and submit it to the Clerk along with the
payment. All submissions to the court must clearly identify the plaintiff’s name and the case number
as indicated on the first page of this order, and must be mailed to: Clerk, United States District
Court, Middle District of Tennessee, 801 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203.
The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED send a copy of this order to the administrator of inmate
trust fund accounts at the Robertson County Detention Center to ensure that the custodian of the
plaintiff’s inmate trust account complies with that portion of 28 U.S.C. § 1915 pertaining to the
payment of the filing fee. If the plaintiff is transferred from his present place of confinement, the

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custodian of his inmate trust fund account MUST ensure that a copy of this order follows the
plaintiff to his new place of confinement for continued compliance with this order.
The court has reviewed the complaint pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act and, for
the reasons explained more fully in the memorandum entered contemporaneously herewith, finds
that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Accordingly, all claims
and defendants are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.
This order constitutes final judgment in this action.
It is so ORDERED.

Kevin H. Sharp
Chief United States District Judge

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