UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF SOUTH DAKOTA . CENTRAL DIVISION

MICAH ROMEL BROWN, 3:25-CV-03017-RAL Plaintiff, vs. ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MELVA RANK, Corrections Officer at Lower MOTION FOR LEAVE TO PROCEED IN Brule Detention Center, in their individual and FORMA PAUPERIS AND REQURING official capacities; and JAMILE MOORE, PLAINTIFF TO PAY AN INTIAL PARTIAL Corrections Officer at Lower Brule Detention FILING FEE Center, in their individual and official capacities, Defendants.

Plaintiff Micah Romel Brown, an inmate at the Winner City Jail, filed a pro se civil rights lawsuit under

. Doc. 1. Brown filed a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and provided the Court with his prisoner trust account report. Docs. 2, 3. Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, a prisoner who “brings a civil action or files an appeal in forma pauperis . . . shall be required to pay the full amount of a filing fee.”

(b)(1). The Court may, however, accept partial payment of the initial filing fee where appropriate. Therefore, “[w]hen an inmate seeks pauper status, the only issue is whether the inmate pays the entire fee at the initiation of the proceeding or over a period of time under an installment plan.” Henderson v. Norris,

(8th Cir. 1997) (per curiam) (alteration in original) (quoting McGore v. Wrigglesworth,

(6th Cir. 1997)). The initial partial filing fee that accompanies an installment plan is calculated according □ to

(b)(1), which requires a payment of 20 percent of the greater of: (A) the average monthly deposits to the prisoner’s account; or

(B) the average monthly balance in the prisoner’s account for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal. Brown reports an average monthly balance for the past six months in his prisoner trust account of $8.28 and an average monthly deposit of $36.72. Doc. 3 at 1. Based on this information, the Court grants Brown leave to proceed in forma pauperis, but he must pay an initial partial filing fee of $7.34 (20 percent of his average monthly deposits). Brown must pay the initial partial filing fee of $7.34 by September 22, 2025. His failure to pay the filing fee by September 22, 2025, will result in the dismissal without prejudice of his complaint. Accordingly, it is ORDERED that Brown’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, Doc. 2, is granted. Brown will make a payment of $7.34 by September 22, 2025, made payable to the Clerk, U.S. District Court. If Brown does not pay the initial partial filing fee by September 22, 2025, his complaint will be dismissed without prejudice. It is further ORDERED that the Clerk of Court will send a copy of this order to the appropriate financial official at Brown’s institution. It is finally ORDERED that the institution having custody of Brown is directed that whenever the amount in Brown’s trust account, exclusive of funds available to him in his frozen account, exceeds $10.00, monthly payments that equal 20 percent of the funds credited the preceding month to Brown’s trust account shall be forwarded to the U.S. District Court Clerk’s Office under

(b)(1), until the $350 filing fee is paid in full. DATED August d$_, 2025. BY THE COURT: bal ge oui A. LANGE CHIEF JUDGE