LACI BARCLAY v. SOUTH DAKOTA WOMEN PRISON (2026)

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS AND REQURING PLAINTIFF TO PAY AN INTIAL PARTIAL FILING FEE

Plaintiff Laci Barclay, an inmate at Florence McClure Women's Correctional Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, filed a pro se prisoner civil rights lawsuit. Doc. 1. After Barclay filed her complaint, this Court informed her that in order to proceed with her complaint, she must either pay the full civil complaint filing fee or file a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis along with a certified prisoner trust account report (PTAR) by July 9, 2026. Doc. 4 at 1. The Court directed the Clerk of Court to send Barclay a blank Motion to Proceed Without Prepayment of Fees and Declaration form and a blank Prisoner Trust Account Report form, id., and both forms were sent to Barclay on June 9, 2026.

Barclay timely returned the Application to Proceed Without Prepayment of Filing Fees and Declaration, Doc. 5, and requested an extension of time to file her PTAR, stating that she has “requested a formal accounting inquiry from inmate services[,]” but that the institution at which she is currently housed “has yet to produce the documents[,]” Doc. 6 at 1. This Court granted Barclay's motion for extension and provided her until July 23, 2026, to file a certified PTAR. Doc. 7. Barclay then requested a second extension, claiming that “Florence McClure has yet to produce the requested documents.” Doc. 8 at 1. This Court granted Barclay's second motion for extension, and provided her until August 24, 2026, to file a PTAR. Doc. 9.

Before her deadline to file a PTAR had expired, Barclay submitted forms explaining her inability to pay the filing fee, including a Certificate of Inmate's Institutional Account. Doc. 10 at 1; Doc. 10-1 at 2–3, 5. But Barclay did not complete and return the PTAR form that the Clerk of Court had sent to her on June 9, 2026. See Doc. 10; Doc. 10-1. Barclay states that she received paperwork for proceeding in forma pauperis at the “state level[,] not federal level[,] based on the misunderstanding within the facility law library.” Doc. 10 at 1 (capitalization in original omitted). Barclay requests that the Court accept her filings in lieu of a PTAR form. Id.

Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 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.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). The Court may 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 proceedings or over a period of time under an installment plan.” Henderson v. Norris, 129 F.3d 481, 483 (8th Cir. 1997) (alteration in original) (quoting McGore v. Wriggles worth, 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.

The Certificate of Inmate's Institutional Account form Barclay submitted is signed by an official at the Inmate Service Division for the Nevada Department of Corrections and provides that Barclay has a balance of $313.46. Doc. 10-1 at 5. Based on this information, the Court grants Barclay leave to proceed in forma pauperis, but she must pay an initial partial filing fee of $62.69 (20 percent of her balance).¹ Barclay must pay the initial partial filing fee of S62.69 by September 4, 2026. Her failure to pay the filing fee by September 4, 2026, will result in the dismissal without prejudice of her complaint.

Accordingly, it is

ORDERED that Barclay's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, Doc. 5, is granted. Barclay will make a payment of S62.69 by September 4, 2026, made payable to the Clerk, U.S. District Court. If Barclay does not pay the initial partial filing fee by September 4, 2026, her 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 Barclay's institution. It is finally

ORDERED that the institution having custody of Barclay is directed that whenever the amount in Barclay's trust account, exclusive of funds available to her in her frozen account, exceeds $10.00, monthly payments that equal 20 percent of the funds credited the preceding month to Barclay'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.

FOOTNOTES

1.   The form Barclay submitted does not provide her average monthly balance and average monthly deposits for the past six months. Doc. 10-1 at 5. While this Court previously sent Barclay a blank PTAR form, it appears that she is unable to complete and return this form. See Doc. 10 at 1. Therefore, at her request, this Court calculates Barclay's initial partial filing fee based on the information contained in the Certificate of Inmate's Institutional Account. Doc. 10-1 at 5.

ROBERTO A. LANGE CHIEF JUDGE