Esthay v. Barbara et al

Filing 8

MEMORANDUM ORDER REGARDING TRANSFER. Signed by Magistrate Judge Keith F. Giblin on 10/29/15. (ljw, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
LUFKIN DIVISION
KIRT ALLEN ESTHAY

§

VS.

§

MARK BARBARA, ET AL.

§

CIVIL ACTION NO. 9:15cv124

MEMORANDUM ORDER REGARDING TRANSFER
Plaintiff Kirt Allen Esthay, an inmate confined at the Stiles Unit located in Beaumont, Texas,
proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Mark Barbara,
Pinky Patel, and Mr. Dunlap. All of the defendants are employed at the Stiles Unit.
The above-styled action was referred to the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 636 and the Local Rules for the Assignment of Duties to United States
Magistrate Judges.
Analysis
Plaintiff claims the defendants have acted with deliberate indifference to his medical
treatment.
The Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §1981, et seq., under which this case is brought, does not
contain a specific venue provision. Accordingly, venue in civil rights cases is controlled by 28
U.S.C. § 1391. Jones v. Bailey, 58 F.R.D. 453 (N.D. Ga. 1972), aff’d per curium, 480 F.2d 805 (5th
Cir. 1973).
When, as in this case, jurisdiction is not founded solely on diversity of citizenship, 28 U.S.C.
§ 1391 provides that venue is proper only in the judicial district where the defendants reside or in
which the claim arose. The claims which form the basis of plaintiff’s complaint occurred at the
Stiles Unit which is located in Jefferson County, Texas. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 124, Jefferson
County is located in the Eastern District of Texas. As a result, venue is proper in the Eastern District
of Texas.

However, while Jefferson County is in the Eastern District of Texas, it is in the Beaumont
Division of this district, rather than the Lufkin Division. When a case is filed in the wrong district
or division, the court “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.” 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). See Kreimerman v.
Casa Veerkamp, S.A. de C.V., 22 F.3d 634 (5th Cir. 1994) (remanding the case to the Houston
Division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, with instructions that
the case be transferred to the McAllen Division of the United States District Court for the Southern
District of Texas pursuant to Section 1406(a)). Accordingly, this case should be transferred to the
Beaumont Division of this court. A Transfer Order shall be entered in accordance with this
Memorandum Opinion.
Hello This is a Test
SIGNED this 29 day of

October

, 2015.

KEITH F. GIBLIN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE