UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF SOUTH DAKOTA SOUTHERN DIVISION

JEREMIAS HERNANDEZ, 4:25-CV-04215-CCT

Plaintiff, vs. ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S SECOND MOTION FOR LEAVE TO KELLIE WASKO, Secretary of PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS Corrections at South Dakota D.O.C., in individual and official capacity; DR. AARON HAYES, Correctional Health at South Dakota D.O.C., in individual and official capacity; STEPHANIE HAMILTON, MDSP, in individual and official capacity; NP ELIZABETH PAUL, Nurse Practitioner at MDSP, in individual and official capacity; RACHEL TYCZ, Nurse Supervisor at MDSP; ANGIE WATSON, Travel Nurse at MDSP; ABBE DICKES, Unit Coordinator, (AKA, Unit Sergeant) at MDSP; and NICHOLE MCDANIEL, Scheduling Person at MDSP,

Defendants.

Plaintiff, Jeremias Hernandez, an inmate at Mike Durfee State Prison, filed a pro se civil rights lawsuit. Docket 1. Hernandez filed a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and submitted a copy of his prisoner trust account report. Dockets 2, 3. This Court granted Hernandez’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and ordered him to pay an initial partial filing fee of $22.81 by December 8, 2025, based on the information he provided in his prisoner trust account report and in accordance with 28 U.S.C. ' 1915(b)(1). Docket 5 at 2. On December 1, 2025, the Clerk’s Office received a letter from Hernandez

stating that he had enclosed a check for $22.81 for the payment of his initial partial filing fee. Docket 6 at 1; Docket 6-1. But no check was enclosed with Hernandez’s letter. Docket 6-1. On December 5, 2025, Hernandez filed a second motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Docket 8. Because this Court previously granted Hernandez’s first motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, Docket 2, Hernandez’s second motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, Docket 8, is denied as moot. 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. Thus, “[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)).

As stated in this Court’s previous Order, Hernandez owes an initial partial filing fee of $22.81 (20 percent of his average monthly balance). Docket 5 at 2. Because it appears that Hernandez has made a good faith effort to pay the initial partial filing fee, this Court grants Hernandez until January 10, 2026, to pay the initial partial filing fee of $22.81. Failure to pay the initial partial filing fee by January 10, 2026, will result in dismissal without prejudice of Hernandez’s complaint for failure to prosecute.

Thus, it is ORDERED: 1. That Hernandez’s second motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, Docket 8, is denied as moot. 2. Hernandez must make a payment of $22.81 by January 10, 2026, made payable to the Clerk, U.S. District Court. If Hernandez does not pay the initial partial filing fee by January 10, 2026, his complaint will be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute. 3. That the Clerk of Court will send a copy of this order to the appropriate

financial official at Hernandez’s institution. 4. That the institution having custody of Hernandez is directed that whenever the amount in Hernandez’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 Hernandez’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 December 11, 2025. BY THE COURT:

/s/ Camela C. Theeler CAMELA C. THEELER UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE