ORDER

This matter is before the Court sua sponte. For the reasons stated below, the Court transfers this case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Greenville Division.

On June 21, 2024, Petitioner Chris Blount filed a pro se [1] Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. See [1]. Blount contests his conviction, which he received in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County. Am. Pet. [6] at 1. Montgomery County is in the Northern District of Mississippi. When he filed this suit, Blount was in custody at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, which is in the Southern District of Mississippi. Cover Letter [1-3].

The Court‘s transfer decision is governed by 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). The statute provides:

Where an application for a writ of habeas corpus is made by a person in custody under the judgment and sentence of a State court of a State which contains two or more Federal judicial districts, the application may be filed in 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 and each of such district courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application. The district court for the district wherein such an application is filed in the exercise of its discretion and in furtherance of justice may transfer the application to the other district court for hearing and determination.

§ 2241(d). Blount received his conviction in the Northern District. Because the records, witnesses, and materials regarding his state-court conviction are in the Northern District, the Court finds that the Northern District is the more convenient forum for resolving this petition. See Bell v. Watkins, 692 F.2d 999, 1013 (5th Cir. 1982) (holding that transfer to district where petitioner was convicted was not an abuse of discretion). Such transfers are consistent with the practices of the two districts. See id. In furtherance of justice, the Court exercises its discretion to transfer Blount‘s application to the Northern District.

The Court ORDERS that Blount‘s [1] Petition, and the other documents filed in this action, be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Greenville Division.

SO ORDERED, this 14th day of April, 2025.

s/ Kristi H. Johnson

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE