Powell v. Dooly State Prison

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA SAVANNAH DIVISION

JOSHUA E. POWELL, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) CV425-217 ) DOOLY STATE PRISON, ) ) Defendant. )

ORDER Pro se plaintiff Joshua E. Powell has filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 case alleging that he is subjected to unconstitutional conditions of confinement at Dooly State Prison. See doc. 1 at 5. He has moved to proceed in forma pauperis. See doc. 2. Since, as explained below, this Court is not the proper venue for his suit, the case will be transferred. The issue of his filing fee, and whether he will be permitted to proceed IFP, will be resolved by the transferee court. Cf., White v. Lemma, 947 F.3d 1373, 1378-79 (11th Cir. 2020) (failure to pay the required filing fee is not a jurisdictional defect). Dooly State Prison is located in Unadilla, Georgia, in Dooly County. Dooly County lies in the Middle District of Georgia. See 28 U.S.C. § 90(b)(4). As Powells allegations concern events that occurred exclusively in another district, the proper forum for this case is the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. 28 U.S.C. §1391(b) (venue); 28 U.S.C. § 1406 (district courts may dismiss or transfer cases suffering venue defects); see also, e.g., Collins v. Hagel, 2015 WL 5691076, at *1 (N.D. Ga. Sept. 28, 2015) (“A district court may raise the issue of defective venue sua sponte.”). Accordingly, the Clerk is DIRECTED to transfer this case to the Middle District of Georgia for all further proceedings. SO ORDERED, this 19th day of September, 2025. Antgo~d, li CHRISTOPHER L. RAY UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA