1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 YOLANDA SILVA, Case No. 1:25-cv-00458-KES-EPG 11 Plaintiff, ORDER RE: NOTICE OF VOLUNTARY 12 v. DISMISSAL WITHOUT PREJUDICE 13 NANCY JACKSON, (ECF No. 15) 14 Defendant. 15 16 Plaintiff Yolanda Silva is incarcerated and proceeds pro se and in forma pauperis in this 17 action brought under

. (ECF No. 1). 18 On August 14, 2025, Plaintiff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal, which also requested 19 that the Court would return the fee Plaintiff previously filed. (ECF No. 15). 20 As to the request for dismissal, the Court construes this filing as a notice of voluntary 21 dismissal without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i), which permits a 22 Plaintiff to dismiss an action without a court order by filing “a notice of dismissal before the 23 opposing party serves either an answer or a motion for summary judgment.” Notably, Plaintiff states her intention to dismiss this case in order to properly exhaust her claims and no Defendant 24 has served an answer or motion for summary judgment. 25 However, the Court is unable to return the filing fee to Plaintiff. “[V]oluntary dismissal of 26 an action, whether filed by a prisoner or not, does not entitle the litigant to a refund of filing 27 fees.” Grindling v. Martone, Case No. 12-00361 LEK/BMK,

, at *2 (D. Haw. 28 1 Sept. 28, 2012) (collecting cases from the Second, Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits and 2 | determining that

“does not provide any authority or mechanism for the court. . . 3 | to return the filing fee after dismissal of an action”). 4 Accordingly, in light of the voluntary dismissal, this action has been terminated, Fed. R. 5 Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)Q@), and has been dismissed without prejudice. See Wilson v. City of San Jose, 6

, 692 (9th Cir. 1997). The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to terminate any 7 pending dates and deadlines and to close the case. 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 19 | Dated: _ August 21, 2025 [lee Fahey — UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28