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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

 PENSACOLA DIVISION

TERRANCE A. BARGNARE,

Plaintiff,

vs. Case No. 3:10cv44/MCR/EMT

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Defendant.

___________________________________/

ORDER

Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, is a prisoner currently held at the Santa Rosa County Jail. He

initiated this action by filing what appears to be a civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (see

Doc. 1). 

The court notes that although Plaintiff states he is “insolvent” and asks to have all fees and

costs waived (Doc. 1 at 5), he failed to apply for leave to proceed in forma pauperis on the

appropriate court-approved forms. Before this matter may proceed, Plaintiff must either pay the

filing fee or obtain leave to proceed in forma pauperis by filing a fully and properly completed

application and attachments.

Plaintiff also failed to use the court-approved form for filing his complaint. Local Rule

5.1(J) for the Northern District of Florida states that the court will not accept for consideration a civil

action commenced by pro se litigants under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 unless the appropriate complaint form

has been properly completed, signed, and filed by the litigant. Thus, Plaintiff must file his complaint

on the form for use in § 1983 cases, even if he wishes to attach separate pages explaining the facts

that underlie the complaint.

If Plaintiff wishes to proceed with this action, he must completely fill out a new civil rights

complaint form, marking it “Amended Complaint.” Plaintiff must limit his allegations to claims

related to the same basic incident or issue and name as Defendants only those persons who are
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responsible for the alleged constitutional violations. Plaintiff must place their names in the style of

the case on the first page of the civil rights complaint form, and include their addresses and

employment positions in the “Parties” section of the form. In the statement of facts, Plaintiff should

clearly describe how each named Defendant is involved in each alleged constitutional violation,

alleging the claims as to each Defendant in separately numbered paragraphs and including specific

dates and times of the alleged unconstitutional acts. If Plaintiff cannot state exactly how a particular

Defendant harmed him, he should delete or drop that person as a Defendant from his complaint. 

Plaintiff’s request for relief should be limited to only that which he could recover if he succeeds on

his claims. Plaintiff is advised that once an amended complaint is filed, all earlier complaints and

filings are disregarded. N.D. Fla. Loc. R. 15.1.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED:

1. The clerk is directed to send to Plaintiff a civil rights complaint form for use in

actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by prisoners and an application to proceed in forma pauperis for use

by prisoners. This case number shall be written on the forms.

2. Within THIRTY (30) DAYS from the date of docketing of this order, Plaintiff shall

either pay the filing fee of $350.00 or submit a fully completed application to proceed in forma

pauperis. Additionally within that time, Plaintiff shall file an amended complaint, which shall be

typed or clearly written, submitted on the court form, and marked “Amended Complaint.” 

3. Plaintiff’s failure to comply with this order may result in a recommendation of

dismissal of this action for failure to comply with an order of the court. 

DONE AND ORDERED this 11th day of February 2010.

/s/ Elizabeth M. Timothy 

ELIZABETH M. TIMOTHY

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Case No.: 3:10cv44/MCR/EMT