Opinion
12-10111-2-JWB
06-05-2024
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. SARA WILLIAMS, Defendant.
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. 125.) For the reasons stated herein, the motion is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.
I. Background
In 2013, Defendant entered a plea of guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to a term of 30 months imprisonment. (Docs. 83, 100.) On May 28, 2024, Defendant filed a “Petition for Relief From Offender Registration” (Doc. 125), 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 filed the motion in this federal criminal matter. In the caption, Defendant crossed out the “State of Kansas” as a respondent and wrote in the “United States of America.” (Doc. 125 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. 125) 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.