Hughey v. Glenn

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA SAVANNAH DIVISION

MICHAEL JACOB HUGHEY, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) CV425-112 ) PHILLIP GLENN, ) ) Respondent. )

ORDER

Michael Jacob Hughey has filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 Petition challenging a 2023 conviction in Paulding County, Georgia. See doc. 1 at 2, 9. As explained below, this Court is not the proper venue for his Petition. The Court will, therefore, transfer it. Federal law allows § 2254 petitions to be filed in the district within which the petitioner was convicted or in the district within which he is confined. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d); Wright v. Indiana, 263 F. App’x 794, 795 (11th Cir. 2008). Hughey’s Petition indicates that he is incarcerated at Coastal State Prison. Doc. 1 at 1. It further reveals that he was convicted in Paulding County, Georgia. Id. at 9. Thus, this Court has

1 jurisdiction over the petition. Nevertheless, it is a longstanding judicial policy and practice to funnel such petitions into the district within which the state prisoner was convicted, since that will be the most convenient forum. Eagle v. Linahan, 279 F.3d 926, 933 n. 9 (11th Cir. 2001); see also Mitchell v. Henderson, 432 F.2d 435, 486 (5th Cir. 1970); Wright, 263 F. App’x at 795. That practice also fosters an equitable distribution of habeas cases between the districts. Paulding County les in the Northern District of Georgia. See 28 U.S.C. § 90(a)(8). Accordingly, this case is TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia for all further proceedings. See 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) (permitting a district court to transfer any civil action to another district or division where it may have been brought for the convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice); Rufus

v. Kemp, 2013 WL 2659983 at * 1 (S.D. Ga. June 12, 2018). SO ORDERED, this 15th day of May, 2025. Loiphand lie Christopher L. Ray United States Magistrate Judge Southern District of Georgia