Mc-Intosh v. San Diego County Sheriffs Department, 3:17-cv-00946

Plaintiff Nehemiah L. McIntosh, a state inmate proceeding pro se, filed a § 1983 civil rights complaint and moved to proceed In Forma Pauperis (IFP).
Prisoners seeking IFP must submit a certified copy of their trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for the 6-month period immediately preceding filing, per 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) and local rule.
The PLRA requires the court to assess an initial partial filing fee based on that 6-month statement and then collect monthly payments until the $400 fee is paid.
McIntosh submitted an uncertified/outdated trust account statement covering November 1, 2006 to May 29, 2007, not the required 6 months immediately preceding the complaint.
Because the required certified 6-month statement was not provided, the court could not calculate the statutorily required initial fee.
The court denied the IFP motion, dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to prepay the $400 filing fee, and gave McIntosh 45 days to either pay the fee or refile a proper IFP motion with a certified 6-month statement.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether IFP may be granted without a certified trust-account statement for the 6 months immediately preceding filing	McIntosh sought IFP (did not provide required certified 6-month statement)	Court must enforce §1915(a)(2) and local rule; without the certified 6-month statement it cannot assess the initial fee	Denied IFP; case dismissed without prejudice; 45 days to cure by paying $400 or filing a new IFP with the required certified 6-month statement

Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176 (9th Cir. 1999) (IFP procedure for civil actions)
Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182 (9th Cir. 2015) (prisoner remains obligated to pay filing fee in increments under PLRA)
Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844 (9th Cir. 2002) (procedures for collecting filing fees from prisoners)