Tony Anthony Day v. Correctional Health Management LLC, Health Care Provider...

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT .

DISTRICT OF SOUTH DAKOTA SOUTHERN DIVISION TONY ANTHONY DAY, 4:26-CV-04014-RAL Plaintiff, vs. ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S CORRECTIONAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT | MOTION FOR LEAVE TO PROCEED IN LLC, Health Care Provider (MCJ), individual FORMA PAUPERIS AND REQURING and official capacity, MINNEHAHA COUNTY, | PLAINTIFF TO PAY AN INTIAL PARTIAL Caretaker of MCJ, individual and official FILING FEE capacity; MINNEHAHA COUNTY JAIL, County Jail, individual and official capacity; and FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS, Jurisdiction of Detainee, individual and official . capacity, Defendants.

Plaintiff Tony Anthony Day, an inmate at the Minnehaha County Jail, filed a pro se civil rights lawsuit. Doc. 1. Day 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 filesan appeal in forma pauperis . . . shall be required to pay the full amount of-a filing fee.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(6)(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, 129 F.3d 481, 483 (8th Cir. 1997) (per curiam) (alteration in original) (quoting McGore v. Wrigglesworth, 114 F.3d 601, 604 (6th Cir. 1997)). .

The initial partial filing fee that accompanies an installment plan is calculated according to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(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.

Day reports an average monthly balance for the past six months in his prisoner trust account of $18.16 and an average monthly deposit of $42.86. Doc. 3 at 1. Based on this information, the Court grants Day leave to proceed in forma pauperis, but he must pay an initial partial filing fee of $8.57 (20 percent of his average monthly deposits). Day must pay the initial partial filing fee of $8.57 by February 22, 2026. His failure to pay the filing fee by February 22, 2026, will result in the dismissal without prejudice of his complaint.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that Day’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, Doc. 2, is granted.

Day will make a payment of $8.57 by February 22, 2026, made payable to the Clerk, U.S. District Court. If Day does not pay the initial partial filing fee by February 22, 2026, 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 Day’s institution. It is finally ORDERED that the institution having custody of Day is directed that whenever the amount in Day’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 Day’s trust account shall be forwarded to the U.S. District Court Clerk’s Office under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), until the $350 filing fee is paid in full.

DATED January a3™2026.

BY THE COURT: CHIEF JUDGE