Betts v. Terronez

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California denied Domenic Jarelle Betts’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis because he did not submit the required certified six-month inmate trust account statements. The court dismissed the § 1983 civil action without prejudice for failure to prepay the $405 filing and administrative fee, while allowing 45 days to reopen the case by paying the fee or submitting a properly supported renewed IFP motion.

Holdings

1. A prisoner seeking to proceed in forma pauperis must submit the required financial affidavit and a certified copy of the inmate trust-account statement, or institutional equivalent, for the six-month period preceding the filing of the complaint. Because Betts did not provide the certified account records, his IFP motion was incomplete and was properly denied.
2. When a prisoner neither prepays the required filing fee nor submits a sufficient IFP application, the civil action may be dismissed without prejudice. Betts was given 45 days to reopen the case by paying the full $405 fee or filing a renewed, properly supported IFP motion.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a prisoner may proceed in forma pauperis without submitting the affidavit and certified six-month trust-account statement required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a).
2. Whether the action should be dismissed without prejudice when the prisoner neither pays the required filing fee nor submits a sufficient IFP application.

Disposition

dismissed