---
title: "Power to grant writ"
citation: "28 U.S.C. § 2241"
authority_id: "AUTH-USC-28-2241"
authority_type: "statute"
jurisdiction: "federal_nationwide"
precedential_status: "binding_enacted_positive_law_title"
official_url: "https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/28/2241"
url: "https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/authorities/AUTH-USC-28-2241/"
legal_review: "2026-08-25"
links_checked: "2026-10-15"
links_available: 1
links_checked_count: 1
license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

# 28 U.S.C. § 2241

## Propositions supported

- Subsection (a) identifies courts and judges empowered to grant the writ.
- Subsection (c) identifies custody predicates, including custody in violation of federal law.
- Subsections (b) and (d) contain express transfer provisions for their stated contexts.

## Material limitations

This card does not resolve saving-clause availability, respondent, venue, exhaustion, subsection (e), or a particular remedy.

## Official source

OLRC preliminary edition, laws in effect July 29, 2026: <https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/28/2241>


## Used in

- [28 U.S.C. § 2241 — Appeal, Certificate of Appealability, and Relief](https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/modules/60-post-conviction/2241-appeal-and-relief.md)
- [28 U.S.C. § 2241 — Filing, Custodian, District, and Administrative Exhaustion](https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/modules/60-post-conviction/2241-filing-jurisdiction-respondent-and-exhaustion.md)
- [28 U.S.C. § 2241 — Section 2255(e) Saving Clause, Custody, and Mootness](https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/modules/60-post-conviction/2241-saving-clause-custody-and-mootness.md)
- [BOP Designation, Sentence Commencement, Aggregation, and Prior-Custody Credit](https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/modules/80-sentence-execution-and-bop/designation-sentence-computation-and-prior-custody-credit.md)
- [Prerelease Custody, Residential Reentry, Home Confinement, and the CARES Act](https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/modules/80-sentence-execution-and-bop/prerelease-custody-home-confinement-and-cares-act.md)
- [BOP Administrative Remedies, § 2241 Review, APA Limits, and Mootness](https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/modules/80-sentence-execution-and-bop/administrative-remedies-and-judicial-review.md)
- [Supreme Court and Nationwide Floor](https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/modules/95-circuit-overlays/supreme-court.md)