Hansmeier v. Seaver

Background

Paul Hansmeier, the appellant, applied to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal. This means asking to proceed without paying the entire filing fee upfront. The appeal concerned a bankruptcy court decision, but this order addressed only Hansmeier’s fee application.

The court found that Hansmeier qualified financially for this status. It also stated that, although the court continued to believe the bankruptcy appeal had been correctly decided, the appeal was not frivolous. The court used “frivolous” in the sense of an appeal that is clearly baseless.

Initial Fee and Installments

Because Hansmeier is a prisoner, the court explained that the filing fee could not be waived completely. Instead, he could pay the fee in installments. The law requires an initial partial fee equal to 20 percent of the higher of the prisoner’s average monthly deposits or average monthly account balance during the relevant six-month period.

Hansmeier’s form listed average monthly deposits of $85.86 and an average monthly balance of $86.99. The court used the $86.99 balance, making the initial partial fee $17.40. A footnote explains that the form appeared to have been changed from “monthly” to “daily”; the court treated $86.99 as the monthly balance because the alternative calculation appeared inaccurate.

The remaining balance of the $505 statutory filing fee must be paid through later installments. Prison officials were ordered to deduct and send payments from Hansmeier’s trust account as required by the statute, regardless of whether he succeeds in the appeal.

Ruling

The court granted Hansmeier’s application to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal and ordered him to pay an initial fee of $17.40.