Mercer County officials and a state police trooper are asking that a former Farrell man’s federal civil suit be dismissed, or transferred to state court.

Wendell Caldwell, 37, who is imprisoned in Somerset, alleged civil rights violations and racial discrimination in a scattershot suit he filed without an attorney.

The suit alleges that Assistant Mercer County Public Defender Charles F. Gilchrest; former District Attorney James P. Epstein; trooper Charles M. Turik Jr.; County Jail Warden Jeffrey P. Gill; the family of Brandon C. “Brandi” Montgomery Dunn; and Mercer County had promised not to oppose his request for parole for giving a statement in the case against Scott A. Dunn.

Dunn, 29, pleaded guilty to charges relating to the beating death of his wife and the torching of her parents’ home in Grove City.

Caldwell, who is seeking to have a federal judge order his immediate release, also said he was due a cash reward for assisting in the Dunn case.

Epstein and Gilchrest are immune because they were working within the scope of their jobs, according to the dismissal motion filed by attorney Marie Milie Jones of Pittsburgh.

To hold Mercer County liable, Caldwell must allege that county officials had a policy that violated civil rights, Ms. Jones said. Caldwell does not allege that in his complaint, she said.

The defendants also note that parole is not a right. Even if the purported letter was written and sent to the parole board, there is no guarantee the board would have granted Caldwell parole, Ms. Jones said.

Gill should be dismissed because a jail warden has no duty to set up meetings, and “an inmate has no right to timely snitching on a third person or to a meeting with a prosecutor so he could ‘cut a deal,’ ” Ms. Jones said.

If Caldwell’s claims are not dismissed, the suit should be transferred to state court because Caldwell does not claim that a state court denied him of a right, she said. Without that, the federal courts do not have jurisdiction, she said.

Deputy Attorney General Mariah L. Passarelli, representing Turik, also argued that Turik is immune.

The U.S. Marshal’s Office said it considers that the suit has not been served to the Montgomery family — notice was mailed to their business — because an acknowledgment has not been returned.

In the same suit, Caldwell also named Southwest Mercer County Regional Police patrolman Kevin Wherry for his supposed inaction after a Nov. 21, 2005, incident. Wherry should have taken Caldwell for medical treatment after the car Caldwell was a passenger in crashed into a pole in the 1100 block of Wallis Avenue in Farrell, Caldwell said.

The Marshal’s Office said it considers the suit has not been served to Wherry.

Caldwell is serving a prison sentence for a firearms violation and two disorderly conduct charges.