Smith v. Atkinson

Filing 8

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that petitioner Larry Lee Smith's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (Docket No. 2 ) is PROVISIONALLY GRANTED, subject to modification by the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall TRANSFER this case to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Signed by District Judge Ronnie L. White on June 5, 2017. (BRP)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
LARRY LEE SMITH,

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Petitioner,
v.
ANDY ATKINSON,
Respondent.

No. 4:17-cv-1425-RLW

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court upon petitioner Larry Lee Smith's motion for leave to
proceed in forma pauperis. (Docket No. 2). Upon consideration of the financial information
provided with the motion, the Court will grant petitioner provisional leave to proceed in forma

pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S .C. § 1915(a).
In addition, the Court will transfer this case to the United States District Court for the
Western District of Missouri. Petitioner is presently in custody in Fulton State Hospital, located
in the Western District of Missouri, and he avers that he is attacking a state court judgment that
arose in Jackson County, Missouri, also located within the Western District of Missouri. As
such, this Court lacks jurisdiction over the instant petition. See 28 U.S.C. § 224l(d) (an action
under § 2254 may be filed in either "the district court for the district wherein such person is in
custody or in the district court for the district within which the State court was held which
convicted and sentenced him.") Under 28 U.S.C. § 1631 , a district court which finds that it lacks
jurisdiction to entertain a civil action may, if it is in the interest of justice, transfer such action to
any other court in which it could have been brought. Upon transfer pursuant to § 1631 , the
action proceeds as if it had originally filed in the court to which it was transferred.

The Court determines that it is in the interest of justice to transfer this case to the United
States District Court for the Western District of Missouri pursuant to 28 U.S .C. § 1631.
Accordingly,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that petitioner Larry Lee Smith's motion for leave to
proceed in forma pauperis (Docket No. 2) is PROVISIONALLY GRANTED, subject to
modification by the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall TRANSFER this case to
the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
Dated this d a y of June, 2017.

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RONNIE L. WHITE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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