Amos v. Kempker et al

Filing 5

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall TRANSFER this case to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). Signed by District Judge John A. Ross on 12/15/2017. (CLO)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
NORTHERN DIVISION
JERRY AMOS,
Plaintiff,

v.
DWAYNE V. KEMPKER, et al.,
Defendants.

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No. 2:17-CV-37 JAR

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on review of the complaint filed by plaintiff Jerry Amos,
currently an inmate at Moberly Correctional Center. Because all of the allegations in plaintiffs
complaint arise out of an incident occurring during his incarceration in Ozark Correctional
Center ("OCC") in Webster County, Missouri, this case will be transferred to the United States
District Court for the Westem District of Missouri.
Plaintiff, filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim against the following ten employees of
Missouri Department of Corrections ("MDOC") and medical professionals, alleging violations of
his constitutional rights: Dwayne V. Kemper, Deputy Director, MDOC; Matt Strumm, Division
Director, MDOC; Deloise Williams, Assistant Director of Health Services, MDOC; Chris
Mattox, Corrections Case Manager II, OCC; Salina Ray, Manager of Puppies for Parole
program, OCC; Stacy Kluei, Deputy Warden, OCC; Unknown Doctor, OCC; and Unknown
Charge Nurse, OCC.

Plaintiff names all defendants in both their official and individual

capacities.
Plaintiff alleges that on September 2, 2015 while he was incarcerated at OCC, he was
viciously attacked by a dog in the Puppies for Parole program. He alleges claims under §1983

against the prison officials for failure to protect, and claims under §1983 against the medical
professionals for deliberate indifference to medical needs. Plaintiffs claims arise entirely from
the dog bite incident and subsequent medical treatment that occurred during his incarceration in
OCC in Fordland, Missouri, which is located in Webster County in the Western District of
Missouri. See 28 U.S.C. § 105(b)(5).
Under 28 U.S.C. § 139l(b), an action of this type may be brought only in: "(l) a judicial
district in which any defendant resides, if all defendants are residents of the State in which the
district is located; (2) a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions
giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of property that is subject of the action is
situated; or (3) if there is no district in which an action may otherwise be brought as provided in
this section, any judicial district in which any defendant is subject to the court's personal
jurisdiction with respect to such action."
Because the events or omissions giving rise to plaintiffs claims occurred in the Western
District of Missouri, venue is proper there. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), "[t]he district court of a
district in which is filed a case laying venue in the wrong division or district shall dismiss, or if it
be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have
been brought." Here, the Court concludes that it is in the interest of justice to transfer this case
to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. In addition, in light of
all of the circumstances, the Court believes it best if the transferee district addresses plaintiffs
motion for appointment of counsel.
According! y,

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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall TRANSFER this case to the
United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a).

Dated this 15th day of December, 2017.