Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Prison Litigation Fees topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee adopts technical changes on filing-fee payments for prisoner suits
Summary
Committee adopted an amendment to House Bill 199 clarifying how partial filing fees are handled for prisoners who are later released; the change was described as technical by the Attorney General’s office.
House Bill 199, sponsored in committee by Representative Edmondson at the request of the Attorney General, would clean up language in the Prison Litigation Reform Act to clarify how prisoners — whether currently incarcerated or released after the cause of action arose — pay partial filing fees.
Phyllis Glaser of the Attorney General’s Office described the amendment adopted in committee as technical and told members the earlier language was repeated and clarified by the amendment. “The language was repeated. That’s why it was — that was it,” Glaser said when asked to explain the change.
Under the amendment, when an order grants pauper status it will direct the agency that has custody of an incarcerated prisoner to forward payments from the prisoner’s account to the clerk of court each time the account balance exceeds $10 until filing fees are paid. For former prisoners who control their own funds, the bill clarifies the process for proving indigence and paying fees under the statutory schedule.
Committee members asked how the schedule works in practice; witnesses explained the payment schedule is set by statute and courts/clerk offices calculate the small periodic payments. Committee members adopted amendment set 2493; House Bill 199 was reported with amendments.
