Opinion ID: 76054
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Simplified collection procedure

Text: 17 In order to simplify the procedures relating to the filing fees, some district courts in this Circuit have incorporated into their IFP applications a preprinted consent form that authorizes the custodial institution to withdraw funds from the inmate's trust fund account and transmit them to the district court to be applied to the filing fee. One court's authorization form provides as follows: AUTHORIZATION FOR ACCOUNT WITHDRAWAL 18 I hereby authorize my custodian and his/her designee to withdraw funds from my inmate account and to transmit the same to the Clerk, United States District Court to be applied to the filing fee which I am required to pay in connection with this case. This authorization shall apply to any institution in which I am or may be confined. 19 Executed this ____ day of __________________, 20__. _________________________________ Signature of Plaintiff/Petitioner 20 On the basis of such an authorization, a district court, in its order granting IFP status and assessing the amount of the initial partial filing fee, may direct the custodial institution to collect the initial partial filing fee and future installments from the inmate's account pursuant to § 1915(b)(2) and remit these payments to the Clerk of the District Court until the filing fee is paid in full. For example, the Sixth Circuit has suggested that its district courts direct custodial institutions to collect inmate payments by including in their IFP orders language similar to the following: 21 Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), the custodian of [prisoner's name]'s inmate trust account at the institution where [he or she] resides is directed to submit to the Clerk of the United States District Court for the [... Northern, Southern, Middle] District of [State], as an initial partial payment, twenty percent (20%) of the greater of either the average monthly deposits to the inmate trust account or the average monthly balance in the inmate trust account, for the six (6) months immediately preceding the filing of [the complaint or notice of appeal] on [date]. 22 After full payment of the initial partial filing fee, the custodian shall submit twenty percent (20%) of [prisoner's name]'s preceding monthly income credited to the account, but only when the amount in the account exceeds ten dollars ($10), until the full fees of one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) have been paid to the clerk of this court. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 23 McGore, 114 F.3d at 606 (emphasis in original); see also Hatchet, 201 F.3d at 653. 24 When a consent form is included in the IFP Application, it simplifies the process for the prisoner because such an application contains all that is required of the prisoner for payments to be made toward the filing fee: an affidavit reflecting the prisoner's assets and income, a certified copy of his or her account statement, and a consent for withdrawals from the trust fund account. Once the prisoner authorizes withdrawals and payments from his or her account and the district court orders the custodial institution to do so pursuant to § 1915(b), he or she ordinarily would not be required to take any other action to comply with the IFP order requiring payment. For this reason, the district court's inquiry into the prisoner's compliance with the IFP order before dismissal also is simplified because the court can simply review the IFP Application itself to confirm that the prisoner had authorized withdrawal and payment of the initial partial filing fee. 8