Sample Habeas Corpus Petition: AEDPA Deadline, Grounds, and Filing

A habeas corpus petition template is the standard court form a person in custody uses to challenge the legality of that custody in federal court, and the two you will most likely need are Form AO 241 for state prisoners filing under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and Form AO 243 for federal prisoners filing under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.¹² The form gives you the structure. The content you put inside it is what decides whether the petition survives.

Pick the Right Form and the Right Court

Your custody controls which form and which court. A person held under a state conviction files Form AO 241 in the U.S. District Court under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, after exhausting state remedies.³ A person serving a federal sentence files Form AO 243 as a motion in the court that imposed the sentence, under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.⁴ The court will provide the form at no charge, and some districts prescribe a local version, so check the district court’s website before you start writing.

Name the correct respondent. For a § 2254 petition, that is the state officer who has custody of you, which in practice means the warden of the facility where you are confined.⁵ Naming the wrong person creates procedural friction before the court ever looks at your claims.

The One-Year Deadline Comes First

Before you draft a word, confirm you are still inside the one-year statute of limitations. For a § 2254 petition, the clock generally starts when your state conviction becomes final: either the day the Supreme Court denies certiorari or the day the time for seeking further direct review expires.⁶

Alternative start dates apply in narrower situations. The clock can begin when an unconstitutional state impediment to filing is removed, when the Supreme Court recognizes a new retroactive constitutional right, or when the factual basis for a claim could first have been discovered through reasonable diligence.⁶

One tolling rule matters more than any other: time spent on a properly filed state post-conviction application does not count against the year. The clock pauses while that state proceeding is pending, then resumes. The order in which you pursue state and federal remedies shapes whether you still have any time left, and letting the window close is one of the most common ways petitions fail.

What Goes Inside the Petition

The form is organized into sections that track what the court needs. Treat each section as a small legal document of its own.

Case History and Exhaustion

Set out the full procedural record: the court that imposed the sentence, the specific offense, the plea entered, the date of sentencing, and the exact sentence. Then document every direct appeal and every state post-conviction proceeding you pursued, including the outcome of each one. For a § 2254 petition, this section is where you prove you exhausted state remedies by giving the state courts a fair opportunity to decide every federal constitutional claim you now bring.³ Petitions that fail to show complete exhaustion are typically dismissed or held in abeyance.

If any of your claims could be met with a procedural default argument (because you did not raise them properly in state court), address that head-on. Two narrow exceptions can overcome a default: “cause and prejudice,” meaning a factor outside your control prevented you from raising the claim and the violation actually harmed your case; and actual innocence, meaning that in light of all the evidence, no reasonable juror would have convicted you. Actual innocence is a gateway, not a win. The government’s answer is required to flag any procedural bar it sees, so pre-empting the argument in your petition is often the difference.⁷

Grounds for Relief

This is the substantive core. Federal habeas relief exists only for custody that violates the U.S. Constitution, federal law, or a treaty; state-law errors alone are not enough.³

List each ground separately and number them. For each ground, give a concise statement of supporting facts and identify the specific constitutional provision at stake. Vague references to “due process” or “my rights” will not carry a claim. If your lawyer was ineffective, cite the Sixth Amendment and say exactly what the lawyer did or failed to do. If testimony was coerced, name the Fifth Amendment protection at issue and describe the coercion.

Include every viable ground the first time. Filing a second petition later is severely restricted: any claim already raised will be dismissed, and any new claim will be dismissed unless it relies on a new retroactive rule from the Supreme Court, or on facts that could not have been discovered earlier with due diligence and that would establish by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable factfinder would have convicted you.⁶ Assume your first petition is your only one.

Framing Claims Under the AEDPA Standard

For a § 2254 petition, if the state court already decided your constitutional claim on the merits, the federal court cannot grant relief unless the state court’s decision was contrary to clearly established Supreme Court precedent, involved an unreasonable application of that precedent, or rested on an unreasonable determination of the facts given the evidence presented.³

“Unreasonable” is not the same as “wrong.” A federal judge can think the state court decided incorrectly and still deny relief. When you write each ground, explain not just why the state court got it wrong, but why its decision was so far off that no fair-minded judge could agree. Petitions written as if the federal court is looking at the case fresh usually lose.

Ineffective Assistance Claims

The most common habeas claim is that trial or appellate counsel was constitutionally ineffective. Under Strickland v. Washington, you must show both that the lawyer’s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that there is a reasonable probability the outcome would have been different but for the errors.⁸

Point to specific acts or omissions: the investigation never done, the witness never called, the objection never raised. Courts presume competence, and only concrete facts overcome that presumption. Tie each failure to how it likely changed the outcome.

Prayer for Relief

End the substantive portion with a specific statement of what you want the court to do. Common requests are vacating the conviction, ordering a new trial, or directing immediate release. A targeted request that follows from the grounds you raised is stronger than a catch-all request for whatever relief the court deems just.

Signature, Exhibits, and Fee

Sign the petition under penalty of perjury. It must be signed by the petitioner or by someone authorized to sign on their behalf.⁵ The facts you state carry the weight of sworn testimony.

Attach supporting documents as labeled exhibits:

Copies of the judgment and sentencing order from the trial court.
Copies of appellate decisions and orders from any state post-conviction proceedings, which document exhaustion.
If you cannot afford the filing fee, Form AO 240, the application to proceed in forma pauperis.

The filing fee for a federal habeas petition is $5.⁹ No filing fee is required for a § 2255 motion. If you qualify for in forma pauperis status, the fee is waived, but a judge must approve the application first.

Filing the Petition

Mail or deliver the completed petition, with all exhibits, to the Clerk of Court for the appropriate district. Include the original and any copies the local rules require. The clerk forwards the petition to a judge for preliminary screening; if the petition plainly shows no entitlement to relief, the judge can dismiss it without any response from the government.¹⁰

If you are incarcerated, the filing date is the date you deposit the petition in the institution’s internal mail system, not the date the court receives it. Use the facility’s legal mail system where one exists and keep a record of the handoff. A declaration under penalty of perjury, or a notarized statement, confirming the deposit date and prepaid postage will protect you if the filing date is later disputed.¹¹

Build the Petition With Appeal in Mind

If the district court denies your petition, you cannot appeal automatically. You need a certificate of appealability, which the district court itself must issue or deny when it enters the final order.¹² To earn one, you must make a “substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right,” and the certificate will specify which issues meet that standard.¹³ The strength of the constitutional issues you draft into the petition today decides whether you can appeal a loss tomorrow.

1
United States Courts. Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Under 28 USC 2254
2
United States Courts. Rules Governing Section 2254 and Section 2255 Proceedings
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 2254 – State Custody; Remedies in Federal Courts
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 2255 – Federal Custody; Remedies on Motion Attacking Sentence
5
United States Courts. Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts – Rule 2
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 2244 – Finality of Determination
7
United States Courts. Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts – Rule 5
8
Congress.gov. Constitution Annotated – Amdt6.6.5.4 Deprivation of Effective Assistance of Counsel by Defense Counsel
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1914 – District Court; Filing and Miscellaneous Fees
10
United States Courts. Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts – Rule 4
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United States Courts. Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts – Rule 3
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United States Courts. Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts – Rule 11
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 2253 – Appeal