Ian A. Woods v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; R. Quintana, P 6690

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
IAN A. WOODS,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE
DEPARTMENT; R. QUINTANA, P
# 6690,
Defendants - Appellees.
No. 13-17180
D.C. No. 2:13-cv-01314-APG-
CWH
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Nevada
Andrew P. Gordon, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted December 5, 2014**
Before: HAWKINS, McKEOWN, and FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judges.
Nevada state prisoner Ian A. Woods appeals pro se from the district court’s
judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for failure to pay the initial
partial filing fee. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review for an
FILED
DEC 12 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

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abuse of discretion. Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). We
vacate and remand.
The district court dismissed this action because Woods, who had been
granted in forma pauperis status, did not timely pay the initial partial filing fee.
However, it did so without determining whether Woods had sufficient funds to pay
the partial filing fee at the time payment was ordered, and Woods has confirmed on
appeal that he in fact lacked sufficient funds. See 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(b)(4) (“In no event shall a prisoner be prohibited from bringing a civil
action or appealing a civil or criminal judgment for the reason that the prisoner has
no assets and no means by which to pay the initial partial filing fee.”); Taylor, 281
F.3d at 850 (district court cannot dismiss in forma pauperis prisoner’s case based
on his failure to pay initial partial fee when his failure to pay is due to lack of
available funds when payment is ordered). Because the district court did not have
the benefit of this information at the time of dismissal, we vacate and remand for
further proceedings.
VACATED and REMANDED.
2 13-17180

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