Jones, Jason v. Meisner, Michael et al

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
JASON ALLEN JONES,
Plaintiff,
v.
WARDEN MICHAEL MEISNER,
MR. SANCHEZ, MR. SPONHOLZ,
MR. R. ROMMSKY and
SGT. BAZYLEWICZ,
Defendants.
ORDER
Case No. 25-cv-631-jdp
On July 29, 2025, I entered an order assessing plaintiff an initial partial payment of the
$350 filing fee for this case, which plaintiff has paid. 	Plaintiff has been making monthly
installment payments since then. Now plaintiff has filed a motion for an order directing prison
officials to pay the remainder of the filing fee from plaintiff’s release account.
Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, an inmate who files a lawsuit in federal court
under the in forma pauperis statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, must pay the $350 filing fee, first by
making an initial partial payment under § 1915(b)(1), and then by paying the remainder of
the filing fee in monthly installments under § 1915(b)(2). If a prisoner does not have sufficient
funds in a regular inmate account to make the initial partial payment, then the prisoner may
withdraw funds from a release account. 	However, prison officials will draw funds first from
the prisoner’s regular account and any portion of the initial partial payment remaining from
the prisoner’s release account. Carter v. Bennett, 399 F. Supp. 2d 936, 937 (W.D. Wis. 2005).
"[N]othing in the fee collection provision of § 1915 can be read as requiring the state to allow
a prisoner to pay off the balance of a federal court filing fee from money carried over several
Case: 3:25-cv-00631-jdp Document #: 9 Filed: 12/03/25 Page 1 of 2

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months in [a] release account." Id. Accordingly, plaintiff’s motion to pay the remainder of the
filing fee from a release account is denied.
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff Jason Allen Jones’s motion for an order directing prison
officials to pay the remainder of the filing fee for this case from plaintiff’s release account is
DENIED.
Entered this 3rd day of December, 2025.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
ANDREW R. WISEMAN
United States Magistrate Judge
Case: 3:25-cv-00631-jdp Document #: 9 Filed: 12/03/25 Page 2 of 2