Mowell v. Cotton et al

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
ORION JAMES MOWELL,
Plaintiff,
vs.
ROSALYN COTTON, (former) parole
board chair person; LAYNE GISSLER,
parole board vice chair person; HABIB
OLOMI, MARK LANGAN, parole
board member; and ROBERT W.
TWISS, parole board member (former);
Defendants.
8:25CV627
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court for case management. The Prison
Litigation Reform Act requires an imprisoned civil plaintiff to pay the Court’s
entire filing fee, either at the outset when filing the complaint, or in
installments if the Court grants leave to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”). In
re Tyler, 110 F.3d 528, 529–30 (8th Cir. 1997); Jackson v. N.P. Dodge Realty
Co., 173 F. Supp. 2d 951 (D. Neb. 2001).
On November 13, 2025, the Court granted Plaintiff’s motion seeking
leave to proceed IFP and ordered him to pay an initial partial filing fee in the
amount of $61.06 within 30 days. See Filing No. 7. To date, Plaintiff has not
paid the initial partial filing fee or asked for an extension of time in which to
do so. Accordingly, the Court will require Plaintiff to show cause why this
case should not be dismissed for his failure to pay the initial partial filing fee.
If Plaintiff’s failure to pay by the Court’s deadline was caused by prison
officials’ failure to adhere to his request to remit payment using funds from
his account or other circumstances beyond his control, his failure to pay
8:25-cv-00627-JMG-PRSE Doc # 8 Filed: 01/05/26 Page 1 of 2 - Page ID #
<pageID>

2
within the time ordered by the Court will be excused. Absent a sufficient
response, the case will be subject to dismissal. See Taylor v. Cassady, 570
Fed. App’x. 632 (8th Cir. 2014) (holding district court abused its discretion by
dismissing case without first taking steps to determine whether prisoner-
plaintiff’s failure to pay the initial partial filing fee “was caused by
circumstances beyond his control, such as prison officials’ failure to adhere to
his request to remit payment using funds from his account”).
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff will have 30 days to show cause why this case should not
be dismissed for failure to pay the initial partial filing fee. In the absence of
cause shown, this case will be dismissed without prejudice and without
further notice.
2. The Clerk of Court is directed to set a pro se case management
deadline in this case using the following text: February 4, 2026: check for
response to show cause order.
Dated this 5th day of January, 2026.
BY THE COURT:
_________________________________
John M. Gerrard
Senior United States District Judge
8:25-cv-00627-JMG-PRSE Doc # 8 Filed: 01/05/26 Page 2 of 2 - Page ID #
<pageID>