Summary
The Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit granted Gary Fogg's supervisory writ in part to address ambiguity in the district court's pauper order and the payment of the initial filing fee. The court ordered the Washington Parish Clerk of Court to file Fogg's motion to lift the stay and serve the sheriff, if it had not already been filed.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the appellate court should grant supervisory relief when the district court clerk returned Fogg's motion for failure to pay an initial partial filing fee despite documentation showing that the fee had been paid.
- Whether the clerk of the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court should be ordered to file Fogg's motion to lift the stay and serve the sheriff.
Holdings
- Supervisory relief was warranted because the record indicated that Fogg had paid the $264.46 initial partial filing fee, despite the ambiguity of the pauper order and the clerk's refusal to process the motion.
Key quotations
“This writ is granted for sole purpose of ordering the Clerk of Court for the 22nd Judicial District Court, Parish of Washington, to file plaintiff's Motion to Lift Stay & Serve the Sheriff, if it has not already done so.” (at 1)
Factual background
The district court granted Fogg pauper status, but the pauper order was ambiguous because only one paragraph was initialed and the initial filing fee amount was left blank in that paragraph. Another uninitialed paragraph stated that the initial partial filing fee was $264.46, and the provisions for monthly payments were also uninitialed. After the clerk returned Fogg's motion for failure to pay the initial filing fee, Fogg submitted documentation indicating that $264.46 had already been paid to the clerk.
Procedural history
The district court granted Fogg pauper status in an October 24, 2025 order, but the order was ambiguous regarding the initial filing fee and monthly payment provisions. The district court clerk returned Fogg's motion on December 19, 2025, stating that the initial filing fee had to be paid before further processing. Fogg sought supervisory relief in the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit, submitting a Department of Corrections statement showing that $264.46 had been paid to the clerk on November 7, 2025. The appellate court granted the writ and ordered the clerk to file the motion if it had not already been filed.
Remand instructions
The Clerk of Court for the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court, Parish of Washington, was ordered to file Fogg's Motion to Lift Stay & Serve the Sheriff if it had not already been filed.