Jones et al v. Jolly et al

Filing 35

ORDER transferring the case to the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, El Dorado Division. Signed by Judge Billy Roy Wilson on 8/14/12. (kpr) [Transferred from ared on 8/15/2012.]

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
WESTERN DIVISION
BENJAMIN MUHAMMAD JONES
ADC # 89586
v.

PLAINTIFF

4:12-CV-00100-BRW

MIKE JOLLY, Executive Director
Warren Housing Authority, et al.

DEFENDANTS

ORDER
Pending are Plaintiff’s pro se Motions to Amend/Correct Complaint (Doc. No. 29, 30,
and 34). Plaintiff, a prisoner in the Tucker Maximum Security Unit of the Arkansas Department
of Corrections, alleges, among other things, that Defendants used excessive force when arresting
him at Mad Butcher’s in Warren, Arkansas. Warren lies within Bradley County, Arkansas.
Upon reviewing the Complaint1 and Motions to Amend, I note that Plaintiff sued Defendants in
connection with events that occurred in Bradley County, Arkansas, and Defendants reside in
Bradley County, Arkansas.
Except in circumstances not present in this case, federal venue is proper where the events
giving rise to the claim occurred, or where any defendant resides.2 As noted above, Plaintiff’s
allegations involve events that occurred in Bradley County, and Defendants reside there.
Bradley County is in the El Dorado Division of the United States District Court for the Western
District of Arkansas, and this case should have been brought there. A “district court of a district
in which a case is filed laying venue in the wrong division or district shall dismiss, or if it be in

1

Doc. No. 1.

2

28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).
1

the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been
brought.”3
While Plaintiff has filed his Complaint and been granted in forma pauperis status, and
Defendants have answered, this case is still in its early stages. I conclude that it is in the interest
of justice to transfer this case; this case is immediately transferred to the United States District
Court for the Western District of Arkansas, El Dorado Division.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 14th day of August, 2012.

/s/Billy Roy Wilson
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

3

28 U.S.C. § 1406(a).
2