Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 13 KEVIN HAGAN, Case No.: 3:26-cv-1788-AJB-AHG CDCR # AM-6145 14 ORDER: (1) DENYING MOTION Plaintiff, 15 TO PROCEED IN FORMA vs. PAUPERIS AND 16 17 (2) DISMISSING CIVIL ACTION DOE 1, DOE 2, DOE 3, DOE 4, WARDEN WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR 18 RJD, FAILURE TO PAY FILING FEES 19 REQUIRED BY 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) 20 Defendants. (Doc. No. 3) 21 22 23 Plaintiff Kevin Hagan (“Plaintiff”), a state prisoner proceeding pro se, has filed a 24 civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Doc. No. 1.) In lieu of paying the filing 25 fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a), Plaintiff has also filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma 26 Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). (Doc. No. 3.) For the reasons discussed 27 below, the Court denies Plaintiff’s IFP motion and dismisses the action without prejudice. 28 /// 1 I. IFP MOTION 2 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 3 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 4 $405.1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The action may proceed despite a failure to pay the entire 5 fee at the time of filing only if the court grants the Plaintiff leave to proceed IFP pursuant 6 to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); 7 cf. Hymas v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 73 F.4th 763, 765 (9th Cir. 2023) (“[W]here [an] 8 IFP application is denied altogether, Plaintiff’s case [cannot] proceed unless and until the 9 fee[s] [a]re paid.”). 10 To proceed IFP, prisoners must “submit[] an affidavit that includes a statement of 11 all assets [they] possess[,]” as well as “a “certified copy of the[ir] trust fund account 12 statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 6-month period immediately preceding 13 the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), (2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 14 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). Using this financial information, the court “assess[es] and when funds 15 exist, collect[s], . . . an initial partial filing fee,” which is “calculated based on ‘the average 16 monthly deposits to the prisoner’s account’ or ‘the average monthly balance in the 17 prisoner’s account’ over a 6-month term; the remainder of the fee is to be paid in ‘monthly 18 payments of 20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited to the prisoner’s 19 account.” Hymas, 73 F.4th at 767 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)–(2)). In short, while 20 prisoners may qualify to proceed IFP without having to pay the full statutory filing upfront, 21 they remain obligated to pay the full amount due in monthly payments. See Bruce v. 22 Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84 (2016); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 23 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 24 /// 25 26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative 27 fee of $55. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2023). The additional $55 administrative fee does not apply to 28 1 Here, Plaintiff's IFP Motion (Doc. No. 3) is incomplete because he has not included 2 certified copy of his trust account statement for the 6-month period immediately 3 || preceding the filing of his Complaint. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2. 4 || Without a certified trust account statement, the Court is unable to assess whether any initial 5 ||partial filing fee may be required to initiate the prosecution of Plaintiff's case. See 28 6 ||U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). 7 II. CONCLUSION AND ORDER 8 Accordingly, the Court: 9 (1) DENIES Plaintiffs Motion to Proceed IFP (Doc. No. 3) and DISMISSES 10 action without prejudice. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(a) & 1914(a). 11 (2) GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days from the date this Order to re-open 12 ||his case by either: (a) prepaying the entire $405 civil filing and administrative fee in one 13 ||lump-sum; or (b) filing a renewed Motion to Proceed IFP, which includes a prison 14 || certificate, signed by a trust accounting official attesting as to his trust account balances 15 || and deposits and/or a certified copy of his Inmate Statement Report for the 6-month period 16 || preceding the filing of his Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) and S.D. Cal. 17 || CivLR 3.2(b). 18 If Plaintiff chooses not to comply with this Order by either paying the $405 civil 19 || filing fee and administrative fee in full by or submitting a properly supported IFP Motion 20 || within forty-five (45) days, this case will remain dismissed without prejudice and without 21 || further order of the Court based on Plaintiffs failure to comply with 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 22 (3) DIRECTS to provide Plaintiff with a Court-approved form “Motion and 23 || Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed Jn Forma Pauperis.” 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 Dated: May 14, 2026 © 26 Hon. Anthony J. attaglia 27 United States District Judge 28