State ex rel. Akbar v. Kronzer
State ex rel. Akbar v. Kronzer
Opinion of the Court
¶ 1. Talib Amin Akbar appeals from orders of the circuit court denying his petition for a writ of certiorari and a motion for reconsideration. He moves the court for an order allowing him to pay for the cost of the preparation of transcripts from his prison release account.
¶ 2. Akbar is a prisoner as defined in Wis. Stat. § 801.02(7)(a)2 (2001-02).
¶ 3. The PLRA sets forth the requirements for a prisoner who seeks to proceed without prepaying the "fees or costs." Wis. Stat. § 814.29(lm)(b). The cost of preparing a transcript is a "fee" within the meaning of § 814.29(1). State ex rel. Girouard v. Circuit Court for Jackson County, 155 Wis. 2d 148, 153, 159, 454 N.W.2d 792 (1990). The word "fee," as used in § 814.29(1), is defined in Wis. Stat. § 814.69(1) to include a court reporter's fee. Girouard, 155 Wis. 2d at 153-54. We conclude that the phrase "costs and fees" used in § 814.29(lm) must, for the reasons articulated in Gir-ouard, include the costs and fees for preparing transcripts.
¶ 4. The PLRA sets forth the procedure for this court to follow when we have determined that a prisoner has assets in a trust fund account to contribute towards the payment of the filing fee. Wis. Stat. § 814.29(lm)(d). While this subsection refers specifically to filing fees, it is contained within a statute which addresses costs and fees more generally. We see no reason why this same procedure should not apply to a prisoner who asks to have the cost for preparation of
By the Court. — The motion is granted.
Akbar enclosed with his motion a statement from the court reporter that the cost of preparing the transcript he needs is $49.50. The forms he submitted to the court in support of his motion to be allowed to proceed without the prepayment of filing fees indicate that he has sufficient funds in his release account to pay this sum.
All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2001-02 version unless otherwise noted.
A release account is one type of trust fund account. See Spence v. Cooke, 222 Wis. 2d 530, 535, 587 N.W.2d 904 (Ct. App. 1998). Other types of accounts include: regular, savings, work release, and miscellaneous. Id.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.