Froemel, Jeffrey v. Sawyer County Court et al

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
JEFFREY R. FROEMEL,
Plaintiff,
v.
SAWYER COUNTY COURT, et al.
Defendants.
ORDER
Case No. 25-cv-949-jdp
On November 18, 2025, I entered an order assessing plaintiff an initial partial payment
of the $350 filing fee for this case, which plaintiff has paid. 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
months in [a] release account." Id. Accordingly, plaintiff’s motion to pay the remainder of the
filing fee from a release account is denied.
Case: 3:25-cv-00949-jdp Document #: 15 Filed: 02/09/26 Page 1 of 2

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ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff Jeffrey R. Froemel’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 9th day of February 2026.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
ANDREW R. WISEMAN
United States Magistrate Judge
Case: 3:25-cv-00949-jdp Document #: 15 Filed: 02/09/26 Page 2 of 2