Opinion
CIVIL ACTION H-03-0263
February 4, 2003
MEMORANDUM AND OPINION
Petitioner filed this action seeking habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He is currently serving a sentence imposed in the 24th Judicial District Court of Victoria County, Texas. He challenges a disciplinary conviction entered at the Ellis I Unit
Under 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d), the district court in which the writ of habeas corpus was filed may transfer the writ to the district where the state court which convicted and sentenced the petitioner is located. The district court may also transfer the writ to the district where the petitioner is in custody.
At the time Paz filed this federal petition, he was incarcerated at the Smith Unit, which is located in Dawson County. Paz remains incarcerated at the Smith Unit. Dawson County is within the Lubbock Division of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
In Wadsworth v. Johnson, 235 F.3d 959 (5th Cir. 2000), the Fifth Circuit considered, as a matter of first impression, whether section 2241(d) provides jurisdiction to a district court to hear a claim challenging a disciplinary proceeding occurring in a prison in that district, when neither the state court that imposed the conviction and sentence nor the current place of incarceration is within that district. Noting that the TDCJ-ID is not a state court, the Fifth Circuit held that regardless of whether a disciplinary proceeding and resulting punishment could be considered a conviction and sentence, they are not imposed by a state court. The Fifth Circuit concluded that a district court lacks jurisdiction over a section 2254 petition challenging a disciplinary conviction and punishment imposed in a prison in the federal court's district, if neither the court imposing the initial conviction and sentence nor the current place of incarceration is in that district.
Paz challenges a disciplinary conviction and sentence imposed in the Ellis I Unit of TDCJ-ID. The Ellis I Unit is located in Walker County and is within the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas. Paz was convicted and sentenced in a state court within the Victoria Division of this district. Paz is not currently incarcerated within this district. Although Paz was convicted and sentenced in a state court in this district, this court finds that the interests of justice would be better served by transferring this case to the Northern District, where Paz is presently confined.
The Clerk is ORDERED to transfer this application for writ of habeas corpus to the Clerk of the Northern District of Texas, Lubbock Division.