UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF SOUTH DAKOTA WESTERN DIVISION

MICHAEL LYNN MERRIVAL JR., 5:25-CV-05014-RAL Petitioner, ORDER ON HABEAS PETITION VS. BRIAN MUELLER, SHERIFF; AND MARTY JACKLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA; Respondents.

Petitioner Michael Lynn Merrival Jr. filed a pro se habeas petition under

in mid-February 2025. Doc. 1. He alleged that he was a pretrial detainee being held by the State of South Dakota and that Respondents were violating his constitutional rights.

The Clerk of Court informed Merrival that he could not proceed further unless he either paid the $5 filing fee for § 2241 petitions or completed a motion to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) and a prisoner trust account report. Doc. 2. The Clerk mailed these documents to Merrival but never received a response. In March 2025, Merrival filed a notice that his address had changed and requested that the Clerk mail him packets for a

lawsuit and lawsuits under

and 2255. Doc. 3. The Clerk mailed these packets to Merrival, but they were returned as undeliverable. Doc. 4. The Clerk was unable to find a new address for him.

Merrival updated his address again in late August 2025, this time listing his address as being at a county jail in Greeley, Colorado. Doc. 5. This Court performed a PACER search and found that Merrival filed a § 2241 petition in the District of Colorado on October 20, 2025, alleging that his pretrial detention by the State of Colorado violates the Constitution. Merrival v. Reams, No. 1:25-cv-3430, Doc. 1. It is not clear if Merrival still wants to proceed with his § 2241 petition in this Court. See Alpine v. Smith, 3:19-CV-03001,

, at *1 (D.S.D. Feb. 12, 2019) (“[Section] 2241 habeas cases brought by state inmates . . . are to proceed in the judicial district where the state conviction arose or where the defendant is incarcerated.”). If so, Merrival needs to either pay the $5 filing fee or move to proceed IFP and file his prisoner trust account report. Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the Clerk send to Merrival at his most recent address in Colorado a motion to proceed IFP and the prisoner trust account report along with this Order. It is further ORDERED that Merrival has until December 18, 2025, to either pay the $5 filing fee or move to proceed IFP and file his prisoner trust account report. Failure to comply will result in this Court dismissing his petition without prejudice for failure to prosecute.

DATED this 3*4ay of November, 2025. BY THE COURT:

heal ag ROBERTO A. LANGE CHIEF JUDGE