Pitts, Albert v. State of Wisconsin et al

Filing 3

ORDER directing plaintiff to submit either the $400 filing fee or a six-month Trust Fund Account Statement by 11/22/2013. Signed by Magistrate Judge Peter A. Oppeneer on 10/30/2013. (elc),(ps)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

ALBERT PITTS JR.,
Plaintiff,

ORDER
13-cv-725-wmc

THE STATE OF WISCONSIN,
DONALD J. HASSIN JR.,
DET. CRAIG DRUMMY,
KEVIN M. OSBORNE,
JENNIFER BAGDONGS and
JORGE R. FRAGOSO,
Defendants.

Plaintiff Albert Pitts Jr., an inmate being held at the Waukesha County Jail in Waukesha,
Wisconsin, has filed a proposed civil action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. With the exception of
habeas corpus proceedings, the fee for civil actions filed after May 1, 2013 is $400 unless a
litigant qualifies as indigent under the federal in forma pauperis statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, in
which case the fee is $350. Plaintiff has submitted a motion for leave to proceed in forma
pauperis. (Dkt. # 2).

The court cannot consider this motion, however, because it lacks

information regarding plaintiff’s eligibility for indigent status.
To the extent that plaintiff wishes to proceed in forma pauperis, he must comply with the
Prisoner Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b), which requires indigent inmates
to pay by installment the entire filing fee for civil actions and appeals. The federal in forma
pauperis statute does not permit a court to waive a prisoner’s entire obligation to pay filing fees,
but it does allow a qualifying individual to proceed without prepaying some or all of the filing
fee. To determine whether a prisoner qualifies as indigent, his motion for leave to proceed in
forma pauperis must include a certified copy of his inmate trust fund account statement (or

institutional equivalent) for the six-month period immediately preceding the date of his
complaint. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). Plaintiff has failed to satisfy this requirement. It may be
that plaintiff was not in custody at the Waukesha County Jail for the entire six-month period
before filing his complaint, in which case he may provide a trust fund account statement for the
period that he came to be in custody to the date that he signed his complaint.
Until plaintiff pays the fee or provides documentation in support of his request for
indigent status, the court will take no further action in this case. Accordingly, plaintiff must
either pay the $400 filing fee or submit a copy of his trust fund account statement no later than
November 22, 2013.
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that:
1.

No later than November 22, 2013, plaintiff Albert Pitts Jr. shall pay the $400
filing fee or submit a certified copy of his trust fund account statement for the sixmonth period from the date of the complaint (April 4, 2013 through at least
October 4, 2012).

2.

Plaintiff is advised that, if he fails to comply as directed or show cause of
his failure to do so, this case will be dismissed without prejudice and
without further notice pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b).

Entered this 30th day of October, 2013.
BY THE COURT:

/s/
PETER OPPENEER
Magistrate Judge

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