Opinion
ORDER OF TRANSFER
MAXINE CHESNEY, District Judge.
Plaintiff is a prisoner currently incarcerated at the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California ("HDSP"). He filed this pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, seeking transfer to a different prison closer to his home. No defendant is named in the complaint. Any accommodation of plaintiff's request, however, would come from HDSP officials, or officials at the California Department of Corrections in Sacramento. HDSP is located in Lassen County, California, which, in turn, is located in the Eastern District of California; Sacramento County likewise is located in the Eastern District. See 28 U.S.C. § 84(b).
Venue may be raised by the district court sua sponte where the defendant has not yet filed a responsive pleading and the time for doing so has not run. See Costlow v. Weeks , 790 F.2d 1486, 1488 (9th Cir. 1986). When jurisdiction is not founded solely on diversity, venue is proper in (1) the district in which any defendant resides, if all of the defendants reside in the same state; (2) the district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of the property that is the subject of the action is situated; or (3) a judicial district in which any defendant may be found, if there is no district in which the action may otherwise be brought. See 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). When venue is improper, the district court has the discretion to either dismiss the case or transfer it "in the interest of justice." See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a).
Plaintiff's claims are directed towards state prison officials located in the Eastern District of California. Accordingly, in the interest of justice, this action is hereby TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
In light of the transfer, the Court's notice of deficiency with respect to plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis is VACATED.
The Clerk shall close the file and terminate any pending motions on the Court's docket.
IT IS SO ORDERED.