Bennefield v. Odom

Filing 4

The Court ORDERS this action be transferred to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Macon Division. Signed by Magistrate Judge Benjamin W. Cheesbro on 7/3/24. (wwp)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
WAYCROSS DIVISION
FERNANDO BENNEFIELD,
Petitioner,

CIVIL ACTION NO.: 5:24-cv-47

v.
WARDEN, HAYS STATE PRISON,
Respondent.
ORDER
Petitioner Fernando Bennefield (“Bennefield”), who is currently housed at Hays State
Prison in Trion, Georgia, filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §2254.
Doc. 1. In his Petition, Bennefield attacks his conviction obtained in Dooly County, Georgia. 1
Id. at 1.
It is prudent to address the venue of this action. All applications for writs of habeas
corpus filed by persons in state custody, including those filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, are
governed by 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Medberry v. Crosby, 351 F.2d 1049, 1062 (11th Cir. 2003). For
a person who is “in custody under the judgment and sentence of a State court,” § 2241(d)
specifies the “respective jurisdictions” where a § 2254 petition may be heard. Under § 2241(d),
a person in custody under the judgment of a state court may file his § 2254 petition in the federal
district (1) “within which the State court was held which convicted and sentenced him”; or

Plaintiff has used a form for state habeas corpus applications, has written in “Ware” as the
county, and named the Ware State Prison Warden as the Respondent. Doc. 1 at 1. However, Bennefield
is housed at Hays State Prison, which lies in the Northern District of Georgia. See
https://services.gdc.ga.gov/GDC/OffenderQuery/jsp/OffQryRedirector.jsp (last visited July 3, 2024). In
addition, Plaintiff states he is attacking his Dooly County conviction and lists the case number assigned in
Dooly County. Doc. 1 at 1, 2.
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(2) “wherein [he] is in custody.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d); see also Eagle v. Linahan, 279 F.3d 926,
933 n.9 (11th Cir. 2001). Therefore, the Court may, “in the exercise of its discretion and in
furtherance of justice,” transfer an application for writ of habeas corpus to “the district court for
the district within which the State court was held which convicted” the petitioner. 28 U.S.C.
§ 2241(d).
In enacting § 2241(d), “Congress explicitly recognized the substantial advantages of
having these cases resolved in the court which originally imposed the confinement or in the court
located nearest the site of the underlying controversy.” Braden v. 30th Jud. Cir. Ct. of Ky., 410
U.S. 484, 497 (1973); see also 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) (“For the convenience of parties and
witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other
district or division where it might have been brought.”). To that end, the federal courts of this
State maintain a “longstanding practice” of transferring habeas petitions “to the district of
conviction.” Isaac v. Brown, No. CV 4:10-071, 2010 WL 2636045, at *1 (S.D. Ga. May 24,
2010), report and recommendation adopted, 2010 WL 2636059 (S.D. Ga. June 29, 2010) (citing
Eagle v. Linahan, 279 F.3d 926, 933 n.9 (11th Cir. 2001)); see also Order, Hewitt v. Allen, No.
3:14-cv-27 (M.D. Ga. Mar. 26, 2014), ECF No. 4 (“Adherence to this policy results in each
district court considering habeas actions arising within the district and in an equitable
distribution of habeas cases among the districts of this state.”).
The place of the conviction Bennefield challenges is Dooly County, Georgia, which is
located in the Macon Division of the Middle District of Georgia. 28 U.S.C. § 90(b)(2). 2
Consequently, the Court ORDERS this action be transferred to the United States District Court

The current version of 28 U.S.C. § 90(b) contains a provision for the Americus Division and lists
Dooly County as one of the counties in that Division. 28 U.S.C. § 90(b)(4). The Middle District of
Georgia’s website does not list the Americus Division (or the Thomasville Division listed in § (b)(7)) as a
separate Division. Instead, Dooly County is listed as being in the Macon Division.
https://www.gamd.uscourts.gov/offices/macon (last visited July 3, 2024).
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for the Middle District of Georgia, Macon Division. The Court DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to
TRANSFER this case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia,
Macon Division.
SO ORDERED, this 3rd day of July, 2024.

_____________________________________
BENJAMIN W. CHEESBRO
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

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