SHEPARD v. STATE (2018)

MEMORANDUM DECISION ON REHEARING

[1] The State has petitioned for rehearing of this Court's decision in Shepard v. State, Cause No. 33A01–1611–PC–2716 (Ind. Ct. App. Mar. 22, 2018), in which we determined that Anthony Shepard is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his challenge to the voluntariness of his plea agreement. His guilty plea, and the resulting conviction, led to the revocation of his parole. We reversed the post-conviction court's grant of summary disposition in favor of the State and remanded for further proceedings. We now grant the State's petition for rehearing for the sole purpose of clarifying what is required on remand but affirm our opinion in all respects.

[2] The State does not challenge the Court's conclusion that an evidentiary hearing is required. Instead, the State argues that the Henry Circuit Court is the wrong court to hear Shepard's claims because he was convicted in Allen County. Henry County is merely Shepard's county of incarceration, so the State asks the Court to order Shepard's petition to be transferred to Allen County.

[3] We agree with the State. See Miller v. Lowrance, 629 N.E.2d 846, 847 (Ind. 1994) (“State courts in the counties in which our prisons are located have no jurisdiction to examine or review a final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction regular upon its face.”). As a result, we grant rehearing, affirm our previous Memorandum Decision, and direct the Henry Circuit Court to transfer Shepard's petition to Allen County for further proceedings.

Friedlander, Senior Judge

Baker, J., and Najam, J., concur.