¶1Gerald Warren, St. Louis, Mo., for appellant.
¶2Stephen D. Hawke, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, Mo., for appellees.
¶3Before ROSS, Circuit Judge, BRIGHT, Senior Circuit Judge, and McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge.
¶5James William Grice appeals from the district court’s dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus sought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). Because no habeas corpus jurisdiction · Case Law">federal habeas corpus jurisdiction exists in this court the appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
¶6On November 6,1973 Grice pled guilty in Missouri state court to issuing a check with insufficient funds. On December 7, 1973 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment. On January 11, 1974 the sentencing court set aside the December 7th sentence and sentenced Grice to one year’s imprisonment. Grice was released on probation July 1, 1974. The probation was terminated by a court order dated February 17, 1977.
¶7In 1980 Grice was convicted in Texas of theft. His sentence was enhanced on the basis of the prior Missouri conviction. Grice then began an attack upon the January 1974 Missouri conviction, beginning with a petition for writ of error coram nobis in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County. This litigation resulted in an appeal to the Missouri Court of Appeals. See Grice v. State, 634 S.W.2d 502 (Mo.App. 1982). Grice’s efforts for relief in state court were unsuccessful. The Missouri Court of Appeals did specifically state, however, that the state trial court “had no jurisdiction to reopen the case after final judgment was rendered on December 7, 1973, State ex rel. Wagner v. Ruddy, 582 S.W.2d 692 (Mo. banc 1979).” Id. at 503.
¶8In December of 1983 Grice petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The district court denied Grice relief and he appealed.
¶9While that appeal was pending, the parties prepared a stipulation and consent judgment for court approval. The stipulation voided the January 1974 conviction and *687left the December 1973 conviction in place. This court vacated the district court’s dismissal and remanded with instructions to consider the stipulation. By an order dated July 19, 1985, the district court again dismissed the petition for habeas corpus, ruling that Grice could not obtain any habeas relief because the December 1973 conviction would still be valid even if the January 1974 conviction was voided by the stipulation.1
¶10The State now contends, for the first time, that the district court and this court lack habeas corpus jurisdiction over Grice. The argument is raised late. Nevertheless, this court must, sua sponte, examine its own jurisdiction. McGowne v. Challenge-Cook Bros., Inc., 672 F.2d 652, 658 (8th Cir.1982); Landrum v. Moats, 576 F.2d 1320, 1323 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 912, 99 S.Ct. 282, 58 L.Ed.2d 258 (1978). Because Grice was released from Missouri custody, see 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c); Cotton v. Mabry, 674 F.2d 701, 703-04 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1015, 103 S.Ct. 374, 74 L.Ed.2d 508 (1982);2Harvey v. South Dakota, 526 F.2d 840, 841 (8th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 911, 96 S.Ct. 2236, 48 L.Ed.2d 837 (1976), and the district court has no jurisdiction over Grice’s Texas custodian, see United States v. Monteer, 556 F.2d 880, 881 (8th Cir.1977); Kills Crow v. United States, 555 F.2d 183, 189 n. 9 (8th Cir.1977), this court lacks jurisdiction.
¶11Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed.