Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-14-02915/USCOURTS-ca8-14-02915-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Joshua Davis
Appellee
Kansas City Missouri Police Department
Appellee
Robin M. Sims
Appellant

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

For the Eighth Circuit

___________________________

No. 14-2915

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Robin M. Sims

lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant

v.

Joshua Davis, Detective; Kansas City Missouri Police Department

lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees

____________

 Appeal from United States District Court 

for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City

____________

 Submitted: January 5, 2015

 Filed: January 14, 2015

[Unpublished]

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Before LOKEN, SMITH, and BENTON, Circuit Judges. 

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PER CURIAM.

Kansas inmate Robert M. Sims appeals the district court’s dismissal of his

complaint, without prejudice, for failure to timely pay an initial partial filing fee. 

Prior to dismissal, Sims submitted to the district court, as the court had directed, a

signed formauthorizing the agency having custody of his prison account to withdraw

funds and forward payment to the Clerk of Court, “in accord with 28 U.S.C. § 1915.” 

Appellate Case: 14-2915 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/14/2015 Entry ID: 4234260 
As the district court’s dismissal order did not acknowledge this authorization, we

conclude the court abused its discretion by dismissing the case without first

determining whether Sims’s failure to pay by the court’s deadline was caused by

prison officials’ failure to adhere to his request to remit payment using funds from his

account, which would excuse his failure to pay within the time ordered by the court,

or by Sims’s failure to leave sufficient funds in the account to timely pay the initial

filing fee, which would not. See George v. Tucker, 570 Fed. Appx. 629 (8th Cir.

2014).

Sims’s motion to appeal in forma pauperis is granted, and the dismissal of his

complaint is reversed. On remand, the district court is instructed to order Sims to

show cause why the fee has not been paid, or take other reasonable steps to determine

whether he tried to comply with the court’s fee-payment order.

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Appellate Case: 14-2915 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/14/2015 Entry ID: 4234260