Opinion
2:23-cv-00124-RAJ-GJL
05-22-2023
GEORGE SLOAN, Petitioner, v. SHERIFF PATTI COLE-TINDALL, Respondent.
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO CHANGE DESIGNATED RESPONDENT
Grady J. Leupold United States Magistrate Judge
This is a federal habeas action filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Before the Court is Respondent's Motion to Change Designated Respondent. Dkt. 21. In the Motion, Respondent informs the Court that, since Petitioner is currently in the custody of the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, the proper respondent in this matter is Allen Nance, Director of the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention. Id. at 1. Thus, Respondent requests the Court substitute the proper respondent-Allen Nance, Director of the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention-in this matter. Id. Upon review, the Court agrees Allen Nance is the proper Respondent and grants the motion.
The proper respondent to a habeas petition is the “person who has custody over [the petitioner].” 28 U.S.C. § 2242; see also § 2243; Brittingham v. United States, 982 F.2d 378 (9th Cir. 1992); Dunne v. Henman, 875 F.2d 244, 249 (9th Cir. 1989). At the time Petitioner filed his Petition, he was being held in the King County Jail as a pretrial detainee. See Dkt. 1. As Respondent rightly indicates, the King County Sheriff is not the custodian of inmates in the local jail. Dkt. 21 at 1. Rather, Mr. Nance, in his role as Director of the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, is the proper Respondent in this matter. See Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 435 (2004) (the person having custody of the person detained for purposes of § 2254 is typically the warden of the facility where the petitioner is incarcerated).
The Motion to Change Designated Respondent (Dkt. 21) is GRANTED. The Clerk is directed to substitute the correct respondent-Allen Nance, Director of the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention-in this matter. Should there be a need to substitute the correct respondent again in these proceedings, Respondent shall renew this Motion.
In the Motion, Respondent informs the Court that Petitioner is scheduled to be sentenced in the King County Superior Court this month, May 2023. Dkt. 21 at 2. At that time, they posit, he will likely be transported to the Washington State Department of Corrections and, thus, Mr. Nance will no longer be the proper respondent. Id.