Summary
A magistrate judge recommends dismissal without prejudice of Kevin Hardaway’s prisoner civil-rights action because he failed to submit the required trust-fund account statement and consent-to-collection forms and did not pay the filing fee. The recommendation also advises closing the civil action.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether a prisoner who neither submits the documents required to proceed in forma pauperis nor pays the full filing fee may have the action dismissed without prejudice after being warned that noncompliance would result in dismissal.
Holdings
- A prisoner may not proceed in forma pauperis unless he submits the required Prisoner Trust Fund Account Statement and consents to collection of the full filing fee in installments; because Plaintiff did neither, dismissal without prejudice was recommended.
Key quotations
“Plaintiff cannot proceed IFP unless he submits the requisite Trust Fund Account Statement and consents to collection of the entire $350.00 filing fee in installments.”
“As Plaintiff has neither fulfilled the requirements for proceeding IFP, nor paid the full filing fee, the Court REPORTS and RECOMMENDS this case be DISMISSED without prejudice and this civil action be CLOSED.”
Factual background
Kevin Hardaway was incarcerated at Johnson State Prison in Wrightsville, Georgia, when he commenced this pro se action against prison-related defendants. He sought to proceed in forma pauperis but did not return the required trust-account statement and consent-to-collection forms after being ordered to do so. He also did not pay the full filing fee or explain his failure to comply.
Procedural history
Plaintiff commenced the action and sought in forma pauperis status. On November 4, 2025, the Court ordered him to submit the required Prisoner Trust Fund Account Statement and Consent to Collection of Fees forms within thirty days and warned that failure to comply would be treated as an election to have the case voluntarily dismissed without prejudice. Plaintiff did not comply, and the magistrate judge recommended dismissal and closure of the civil action.