Culbreth v. Orange County Jail

Background

Kareem H. Culbreth, who is incarcerated at Orange County Jail and is proceeding without a lawyer, filed this civil action. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.

Court’s Order

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting both an application and a prisoner authorization. Even when permission to proceed without prepayment is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account.

The court ordered Culbreth, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $405 in fees or submit the completed prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 24-CV-00075 (LTS). The authorization would allow the facility holding him to send the court certified account statements for the prior six months and deduct installment payments from his prison account. No summons will issue at this time. If Culbreth complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.

Appeal and Other Warnings

The court certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The court also warned that certain future dismissals of prisoner cases can count as “strikes” under federal law, potentially limiting a prisoner’s ability to file future federal civil actions without prepaying fees.

Judge

Laura Taylor Swain, Chief United States District Judge, signed the order.