F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
OCT 28 2004
TENTH CIRCUIT
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
LEVI LOVE,
Plaintiff-Appellant, No. 04-3325
v. (Dist. of Kan.)
ROGER WERHOLTZ, Secretary of (D.C. No. 03-CV-3291-GTV)
Corrections; CHARLES SIMMONS,
Warden, El Dorado Correctional
Facility; LOUIS BRUCE, Warden,
Hutchinson Correctional Facility;
DON LANGFORD, Hutchinson
Correctional Facility; (FNU)
SCHLETZBAUM, Disciplinary
Hearing Officer, Hutchinson
Correctional Facility; ELIZABETH
MOSCORRO, Captain, Hutchinson
Correctional Facility; M.
VANHOOSE, Unit Team Manager; R.
HICKS, Unit Team; D.
McCONAGHY, Unit Team; M.
KROEKER, Unit Team; P. KEEN,
Mail Review Officer,
Defendants-Appellees.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
*
This order is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of
the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the
citation of orders; nevertheless, an order may be cited under the terms and
conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
Before KELLY , HENRY , and TYMKOVICH , Circuit Judges. **
Levi Love appeals the dismissal of his civil complaint for failure to pay the
filing fee. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
Love filed a complaint in forma pauperis (IFP) alleging that Appellees had
violated several of his constitutional rights. Love then moved to obtain discovery
related to his claims and also moved to stay proceedings until he exhausted all
administrative remedies related to his discovery requests.
On February 24, 2004, the district court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)
(Supp. 2004), ordered Love to pay a $24.00 filing fee and to show cause why the
complaint should not be dismissed within thirty days. The court went on to deny
Love’s motion for discovery and motion to stay. After Love failed to pay the
requisite filing fee within thirty days of the order, the court dismissed his
complaint without prejudice and denied his motion to proceed IFP.
Love then appealed the court’s dismissal of his complaint for failure to pay
the filing fee and moved to proceed IFP. Because Love paid the filing fee on
August 26, 2004, the district court granted his request to proceed on appeal IFP.
**
After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this three-judge
panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not be of material
assistance in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); 10th
Cir. R. 34.1(G). The cause is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
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ANALYSIS
A court may dismiss a complaint for failing to comply with a court order.
See Cosby v. Meadors , 351 F.3d 1324, 1326 (10th Cir. 2003). We review the
district court’s dismissal of Love’s complaint for abuse of discretion. See id.
A prisoner seeking to proceed IFP, while not obligated to pay the full
amount of a filing fee at the time of a filing, is nonetheless required to pay a
portion of that fee upon filing. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) (Supp. 2004)
(requiring the court to assess and collect an initial fee of twenty percent of either
the monthly deposits in a prisoner’s account or the average monthly balance of
the account). Pursuant to this requirement, the court ordered Love to pay twenty
percent of his average monthly balance, or $24.00, within thirty days of its order
or face dismissal. Although Love eventually paid the $24.00 fee, he did so five
months too late. Thus, he failed to comply with the court’s order and the court
had the authority to dismiss his complaint. Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal
of Love’s complaint without prejudice.
We remind Love that he is required to continue to make payments until all
filing fees, including the appellate filing fee, are paid. Love’s complaint was
dismissed without prejudice, thus nothing in this order and judgment reflects our
opinion of the merits.
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WE AFFIRM.
Entered for the Court
Timothy M. Tymkovich
Circuit Judge
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