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

Heading: Assessment and calculation of initial filing fee

Text: 8 To enable the district court to assess an appropriate initial filing fee, § 1915 as amended by the PLRA requires that prisoners submit with their IFP application an affidavit that includes a statement of all assets such prisoner possesses and a certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for the prisoner for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal, obtained from the appropriate official of each prison at which the prisoner is or was confined. Id. § 1915(a)(1), (2). 3 After the prisoner files a completed IFP application, the district court shall assess and, when funds exist, collect an initial partial filing fee equivalent to 20 percent of the greater of... the average monthly deposits ... or the average monthly balance in the prisoner's account for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint. Id. § 1915(b)(1)(A), (B). 4 If the IFP Application and attachments show that the inmate's trust account contained no funds for the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint, the inmate is assessed an initial partial filing fee of $0.00 and ordered to pay the full filing fee in installments. See id. § 1915(b)(2); Hatchet v. Nettles, 201 F.3d 651, 653 (5th Cir.2000). 9 In the present case, Wilson swore in his IFP Application that his family sends him approximately $50 a month. This statement is borne out by his prison trust fund account statement showing that during the six months preceding filing the action he received $215.00 in deposits. 5 Thus, the average monthly deposits to the account for that period equaled $35.83, an amount greater than the average monthly balance. Pursuant to § 1915(b)(1), the district court therefore was required to assess Wilson an initial fee equal to 20 percent of his $35.83 average monthly deposits, or $7.16. Thus, the court correctly calculated Wilson's initial partial filing fee to be $7.16.