Opinion
08-10135-JWB
05-17-2023
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
JOHN W. BROOMES UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This matter is before the court on a motion by Defendant entitled “Petition for Relief From Offender Registration.” (Doc. 50.) For the reasons stated herein, the motion is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.
I. Background
Defendant was charged with several drug offenses in 2008. (Doc. 4.) In 2009, Defendant entered a plea of guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base and was sentenced to a term of 120 months imprisonment. (Docs. 37, 38, 44.) On August 31, 2018, the court granted a motion for early termination of Defendant's term of supervised release. (Doc. 48.)
On April 7, 2023, Defendant filed a “Petition for Relief From Offender Registration” (Doc. 50), which appears to be a preprinted form of the Kansas Judicial Council that guides a petitioner who seeks relief under K.S.A. 22-4908. That provision of Kansas law allows a drug offender who was required to register under the Kansas Offender Registration Act to petition for relief from the registration requirement if certain facts are shown. (Id.) Although the form's preprinted caption indicated it was to be filed “In the Eighteenth Judicial District.. .District Court of Sedgwick County, Kansas,” Defendant crossed out that caption and wrote in “US District Court.” (Doc. 50 at 1.)
II. Analysis
As Judge Lungstrum noted in United States v. Fulton, 2023 WL 1396598 (D. Kan. Jan. 31, 2023), a petition for relief under the Kansas Offender Registration Act must be filed in the district court of the Kansas county where the offender was convicted or, if the conviction was out-of-state, then in the district court of any Kansas county where the offender is currently required to register. Fulton, 2023 WL 1396598, at *1. In other words, relief under K.S.A. § 22-4908 must be sought in a district court of the State of Kansas, not in a court of the United States. A federal court “lacks jurisdiction to grant the relief requested by defendant.” Id.
III. Conclusion
Defendant's Petition for Relief From Offender Registration (Doc. 50) is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction. The dismissal is without prejudice to refiling in the appropriate county court of the State of Kansas. IT IS SO ORDERED this 17th day of May, 2023.