IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS BEAUMONT DIVISION DEMONTROUS WITCHER §

VS. § CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:22cv387 DR. EDGAR HULIPAS, ET AL. § MEMORANDUM OPINION REGARDING VENUE Plaintiff Demontrous Witcher, an inmate at the Jester III Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, proceeding pro se, filed this civil rights lawsuit pursuant to

against Dr. Edgar Hullipas and Transportation Officer Sykes. The above-styled action was referred to the undersigned magistrate judge pursuant to

and the Local Rules for the Assignment of Duties to the United States Magistrate Judge for findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendations for the disposition of the case. Discussion Plaintiff claims Dr. Edgar Hulipas, the Medical Director at the Jester III Unit, failed to provide him with continuing treatment and adequate pain medication. Further, plaintiff claims defendant Sykes, a transportation officer at the Jester III Unit, improperly failed to use a seatbelt on him during transportation on May 5, 2022. Analysis

The Civil Rights Act,

, et seq., under which this case is brought, does not contain a specific venue provision. Accordingly, venue in civil rights cases is controlled by

. Jones v. Bailey,

(N.D. Ga. 1972), aff’d per curium,

(5th Cir. 1973). Plaintiff does not assert jurisdiction is based on diversity of citizenship. When jurisdiction is not founded solely on diversity of citizenship,

provides that venue is proper only in the judicial district where the defendants reside or in which the claim arose. At the time of the incidents which form the basis of plaintiffs complaint he was confined at the Jester IIT Unit located in Richmond, Fort Bend County, Texas. Further, the prison defendants are employed at the Jester Il Unit. When public officials are parties to an action in their official capacities, they reside for venue purposes in the county where they perform their official duties, which in this case is Fort Bend County, Texas. Holloway v. Gunnell,

(Sth Cir. 1982); Lowrey v. Estelle,

(5th Cir. 1976). In accordance with

, Fort Bend County is located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. As Fort Bend County is located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, venue in the Eastern District of Texas is not proper. When venue is not proper, 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.”

(a). This case should be transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. An appropriate order so providing will be entered by the undersigned.

SIGNED this 22nd day of September, 2022. Ef. a Zack Hawthorn United States Magistrate Judge