Brendan Welch, and Welch Racing v. David Wright, et. al.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA BRENDAN WELCH, and WELCH RACING, Plaintiffs, 4:23CV3128 vs. MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DAVID WRIGHT, et. al., Defendants.

Plaintiff Brendan Welch (“Plaintiff”), a non-prisoner, filed a Motion, Filing No. 56, seeking a free copy of his prior amended complaint (the “First Amended Complaint”) which he filed in December of 2024, see Filing No. 42. As cause, Plaintiff submits that this Court’s October 29, 2025, Memorandum and Order, see Filing No. 50, required him to file a supplement to his Amended Complaint filed in December of 2024, see Filing No. 42, but due to his inability to pay he cannot obtain a copy of the Amended Complaint to prepare a supplement. Upon consideration, Plaintiff’s Motion for Copies is granted to the extent Plaintiff seeks copies to prepare his amended complaint. Filing No. 56.

The statutory right to proceed in forma pauperis does not include the right to receive copies of documents without payment. 28 U.S.C. § 1915; see also Haymes v. Smith, 73 F.R.D. 572, 574 (W.D.N.Y. 1976) (“The generally recognized rule is that a court may not authorize the commitment of federal funds to underwrite the necessary expenditures of an indigent civil litigant’s action.”) (citing Tyler v. Lark, 472 F.2d 1077, 1078 (8th Cir. 1973)). If Plaintiff requires copies of court documents in the future, he should contact the clerk’s office to determine the proper method of requesting and paying for copies.

However, the Court shall grant Plaintiff’s Motion in this case only so he may comply with the Memorandum and Order granting him leave to supplement his Amended Complaint. And, as the current deadline to file his supplement is January 30, 2026, this Court shall sua sponte grant Plaintiff an additional 15 days to comply.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that: 1. The Motion, Filing No. 56, is granted. Plaintiff is warned that this is a one- time courtesy and all further requests for copies in this case must be directed to the Clerk’s Office.

2. The Clerk’s Office is instructed to provide Plaintiff a copy of the Amended Complaint at Filing No. 42.

3. The Court, sua sponte, grants Plaintiff an additional 15 days beyond the current January 30, 2026, deadline to file his Supplement. If Plaintiff fails to file his Supplement by February 17, 2026, the Court shall perform an initial review of the Amended Complaint at Filing No. 42. Plaintiff is further warned, no further extensions of the February 17, 2026, deadline for filing the Supplement shall be granted without a showing of exceptional circumstances.

4. The Clerk’s Office is directed to terminate the pro se case management deadline of “January 30, 2026: check for supplement to complaint” and set the following pro se case management deadline: February 17, 2026: check for Supplement to Amended Complaint.

Dated this 16th day of January, 2026.

BY THE COURT: Gs F ~ Joseph F. Bataillon Senior United States District Court