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REPORTED

IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 2229 September Term, 2002 ________________________________ RICHARD L. MASSEY, JR. v. INMATE GRIEVANCE OFFICE

Murphy, C.J., Moylan, Charles E., Jr., (Retired, Specially Assigned) Smith, Marvin H., (Retired, Specially Assigned) JJ. ________________________________ Opinion by Smith, J.

Filed: December 9, 2003

Richard L. Massey, Jr., the appellant, is an inmate committed to the custody of the Commissioner of Correction. Massey's inmate

grievance was dismissed by the Inmate Grievance Office, and Massey sought judicial review by the Circuit Court for Allegany County. The court declined to grant Massey's motion to waive filing fees and ordered instead that the amount of the fees be reduced to $10.00. Massey appeals from the trial court's order. He asks

"[w]hether the lower court erred as

a matter of law by not

providing a reason for denying appellant permission to proceed without prepayment of filing fees . . . ." We answer that question

in the negative and affirm the judgment of the trial court. FACTS Massey filed both his "Petition for Judicial Review" and his "Motion to Proceed Without Payment of Costs" in the trial court on November 14, 2002. He attached to his petition a letter he had

received from the Inmate Grievance Office, which indicated that his grievance had been dismissed for failure to follow the Division of Correction's administrative remedy procedure. To his "Motion to Proceed Without Payment of Costs," Massey attached his own, brief "Affidavit" of indigency, which was signed by Massey but was not notarized. He also attached a one-page

print-out from the Inmate Banking System, which showed that, on June 13, 2002, he had only 80-cents in the "Active" portion of his inmate account. Finally, Massey attached a proposed order, which

would have directed that he "be permitted to proceed with his Petition for Judicial Review without payment of costs." The court crossed out the language of the order that would have permitted Massey to proceed without paying costs. It inserted language that provided instead that Massey be permitted to proceed "upon the payment of $10.00 in filing fees." As we have indicated, Massey did not proceed but instead filed this appeal. The administrative record was never forwarded to the

trial court, and Massey was never required to file a memorandum in support of his petition.1 Thus, there is nothing in the record

that would indicate the basis of Massey's inmate grievance or the propriety grievance. DISCUSSION In arguing that the trial court erred when it denied, without explanation, his motion to waive filing fees, Massey relies on Torbit v. State, 102 Md. App. 530, 650 A.2d 311 (1994). reliance is misplaced. Torbit was decided under Code (1974, 2002 Repl. Vol.),

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