Reichling v. Fikes
- John Tunheim
- 0:22-cv-00081
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 4
In Reichling v. Fikes, Judge Tunheim set Reichling’s initial appellate filing fee at $24.53 and ordered the remaining $480.47 paid from his prison account.
Timmy J. Reichling, who must pay the $505 appellate filing fee, and officials at the institution where he is confined, who were directed to make installment deductions from his inmate trust account.
What happened
In Reichling v. Fikes, Timmy J. Reichling, an incarcerated person representing himself, appealed an earlier order that dismissed his case and denied his requests for a preliminary injunction and a lawyer. The Eighth Circuit sent the matter back so the District Court could calculate and collect the appeal’s filing fee.
The court used information from Reichling’s prison trust account because it had not received a certified account statement within 30 days. His average monthly deposits were $122.66, and his average monthly balance was $57.08. Applying the required 20 percent calculation to the higher figure, the court set the initial partial fee at $24.53.
The court ordered Reichling to pay $24.53 immediately and the remaining $480.47 through deductions from his prison trust account until the total $505 appellate filing fee was paid. Judge John R. Tunheim also directed the Clerk of Court to notify the officials at Reichling’s institution.
The detailed version
- Reichling v. Fikes · No. 0:22-cv-00081
- John Tunheim
- Oct. 4, 2022
Background
Timmy J. Reichling, an incarcerated individual proceeding without a lawyer, filed a notice of appeal to the Eighth Circuit. The appeal challenged an earlier District Court order adopting a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, denying Reichling’s motions for a preliminary injunction and appointment of counsel, and dismissing his case.
The Eighth Circuit remanded the matter to the District Court with instructions to calculate and collect Reichling’s appellate filing fee under the procedure described in Henderson v. Norris. Reichling had not filed an application to proceed without prepaying the appellate fee, but the court explained that filing a notice of appeal was enough to trigger assessment of the fee.
Fee calculation
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, an incarcerated person must pay the appellate filing fee. The initial partial payment is generally 20 percent of the greater of the person’s average monthly deposits or average monthly balance during the preceding six months. The unpaid balance is collected through periodic deductions from the person’s prison trust account.
The court had not received a certified copy of Reichling’s account within 30 days of his notice of appeal. It therefore relied on the most recent account information Reichling had submitted with his earlier application to proceed without prepaying the district-court filing fee. That information showed average monthly deposits of $122.66 and an average monthly balance of $57.08. Because the deposits were higher, the court calculated 20 percent of $122.66, resulting in an initial partial appellate filing fee of $24.53.
Order
The court ordered that the $24.53 initial partial filing fee was due immediately. It also ordered Reichling to pay the remaining $480.47 of the statutory $505 appellate filing fee through deductions from his inmate trust account under § 1915(b)(2). The Clerk of Court was directed to notify the authorities at the institution where Reichling was confined. The opinion stated that Reichling would owe the filing fee regardless of the outcome of his appeal.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.