Reported / Citable
Background
Nathaniel Jones, III, a Texas prisoner proceeding pro se, filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition challenging his 2010 Harris County convictions for murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He alleged ineffective assistance of counsel and procedural violations at trial.
Jones is confined at the Estelle Unit in Huntsville, Texas, in Walker County. Both Walker County, where he is confined, and Harris County, where he was convicted and sentenced to 45 years’ imprisonment, are within the Southern District of Texas.
The Court’s Holding
The Eastern District of Texas concluded it had no jurisdictional basis to entertain Jones’s habeas petition because neither his place of confinement nor his place of conviction lies in that district.
Applying 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241(d) and 1406(a), the court determined that transfer, rather than dismissal, was appropriate in the interest of justice. It directed that the case be transferred to the Houston Division of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Key Takeaways
- A state habeas petition may be filed in the district of confinement or the district of conviction.
- Both relevant Texas counties in this case are within the Southern District of Texas.
- A petition filed in the wrong district may be transferred under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a).
Why It Matters
The order is a venue and jurisdiction ruling, not a decision on Jones’s habeas claims. The transfer places the petition in the federal district connected to both his custody and his underlying convictions.