UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA SAVANNAH DIVISION

TERRANCE DAVID RAGLAND, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) CV422-060 ) WARDEN ODUM, ) ) Respondent. )

ORDER

Terrance Devon Ragland seeks relief from his state conviction and sentence pursuant to

. See doc. 1. His petition reveals that he is incarcerated at Ware State Prison.

. It further reveals that he was convicted in Bibb County, Georgia.

This Court is, therefore, not the proper forum for his petition. Federal law allows § 2254 petitions to be filed in the district within which the petitioner was convicted or in the district within which he is confined.1

(d); Wright v. Indiana,

, 795

1 Ware State Prison lies in this Court’s Waycross Division. See

(c)(4). Since this Order transfers the case to the Middle District of Georgia, whether it was filed in the proper division within the Southern District is moot.

1 (11th Cir. 2008). Thus, this Court has jurisdiction over the petition. Nevertheless, it is a longstanding judicial policy and practice to funnel such petitions into the district within which the state prisoner was convicted, since that will be the most convenient forum. Eagle v. Linahan,

, 933 n. 9 (11th Cir. 2001); see also Mitchell v. Henderson,

, 486 (5th Cir. 1970); Wright,

. ‘That practice also fosters an equitable distribution of habeas cases between the districts. Bibb County lies in the Middle District of Georgia. See

(b)(2). Accordingly, this case is TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia for all further proceedings. See

(a) (permitting a district court to transfer any civil action to another district

or division where it may have been brought for the convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice); Rufus v. Kemp,

at * 1 (S.D. Ga. June 12, 2018). SO ORDERED, this 21st day of March, 2022. igs. ag Christopher L. Ray United States Magistrate Judge Southern District of Georgia