Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 TERRELL KEVIN HESTER, Case No.: 3:26-cv-1062-CAB-MMP 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DISMISSING CIVIL 13 vs. ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE 14 CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF 15 CORRECTIONS AND 16 REHABILITATION, et al., 17 Defendants. 18 19 20 Terrell Kevin Hester (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil 21 rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. [Doc. No. 1.] Plaintiff has not paid the 22 civil filing fee nor filed a motion to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”). For the reasons 23 stated below, the action is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. 24 I. LEGAL STANDARD 25 All parties instituting any civil action, suit, or proceeding in a district court of the 26 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 27 28 1 $405. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) . An action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to 2 prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 3 § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); Rodriguez v. 4 Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, if the plaintiff is a prisoner and is 5 granted leave to commence his suit IFP, he remains obligated to pay the full filing fee 6 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2), although financially qualified prisoners may do 7 so in installments. See Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015); Taylor 8 v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 850 (9th Cir. 2002) (the fee provisions of § 1915(b) do not bar 9 access to the courts simply because a prisoner lacks the funds to pay the initial filing fee; 10 the litigant may proceed, with the fee collected over time as funds become available.). 11 II. DISCUSSION 12 Plaintiff has not prepaid the $405 in filing and administrative fees required to 13 commence this civil action, nor has he submitted a motion to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 14 U.S.C. § 1915(a). Although the Court has received a copy of Plaintiff’s inmate trust 15 account statement, [see Doc. No. 2], and Plaintiff has attached a copy of an unsigned and 16 undated state application to waive fees to the complaint, [see Doc. No. 1-2 at 24–27], these 17 documents are not sufficient under the Court’s local rules. See CivLR 3.2(a) (requiring 18 declaration of assets to be signed under penalty of perjury). Therefore, this case cannot yet 19 proceed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 20 III. CONCLUSION 21 For the reasons set forth above, the Court: 22 (1) DISMISSES this action sua sponte WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure to 23 pay the $405 civil filing and administrative fee or to submit a motion to proceed IFP 24 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a), 1915(a) and CivLR 3.2(a); and 25 26 27 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative fee of $55. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. 28 1 (2) GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days leave from the date this Order is filed 2 || to: (a) prepay the entire $405 civil filing and administrative fee in full; or (b) complete and 3 || file a motion to proceed IFP. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); CivLR 3.2. 4 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall provide Plaintiff 5 || with this Court’s approved form “Motion and Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed 6 Forma Pauperis.” Tf Plaintiff fails to either prepay the $405 civil filing fee or complete 7 submit a motion to proceed IFP within 45 days, this action will remain dismissed 8 || without prejudice based on Plaintiff's failure to satisfy the fee requirements of 28 U.S.C. 9 Section 1914(a) and without further Order of the Court.” 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 11 ||Dated: April 13, 2026 € 12 Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo 13 United States District Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ||? Plaintiff is cautioned that if he elects to proceed further—either by prepaying the full $405 civil filing fee or by submitting a properly supported motion to proceed IFP—his complaint will be screened before 23 || service and may be dismissed sua sponte pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915A(b) and/or 1915(e)(2)(B). 24 See Hebrard v. Nofziger, 90 F.4th 1000, 1002 (9th Cir. 2024) (noting that § 1915(e) requires courts to dismiss complaints that fail to state a claim, whether sua sponte or otherwise); see also Rhodes □□□ 95 || Robinson, 621 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2010) (discussing similar screening under § 1915A for prisoner complaints seeking redress from governmental entities, their officers or employees). If the complaint is 26 || dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim, the dismissal may count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). See Harris v. Harris, 935 F.3d 670, 673 (9th Cir. 2019). Section 1915(g)}— 27 || the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s “three strikes” provision—bars a prisoner from proceeding IFP after 28 three prior dismissals on those grounds unless he plausibly alleges that he was under imminent danger of serious physical injury at the time of filing.