Judge Carlos Cascos

319 S.W.3d 205

Judge Carlos CASCOS, et al., Appellants,v. CAMERON COUNTY ATTORNEY, Appellee.In re Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, et al.

Nos. 13-10-00016-CV, 13-10-00023-CV, 13-10-00059-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas Corpus Christi-Edinburg.

July 15, 2010.

Rehearing Overruled Sept. 2, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

James P. Allison, Robert T. Bass, Vanessa Ann Gonzalez, J. Eric Magee, Jana C. Williams, Allison, Bass & Associates, LLP, Austin, Ernesto Gamez, Law Office of Ernesto Gamez, Jr., Brownsville, for Appellants.

Armando R. Villalobos, Dist. Atty., Charles E. Mattingly, Dist. Atty's Office, Rene Garza, Cameron County Atty's Office, Rene B. Gonzalez, Asst. Dist. Atty., Brownsville, Ricardo Palacios, Gonzalez Palacios, LLP, McAllen, for Appellee.

Before Chief Justice VALDEZ and Justices YAÑEZ and VELA.

OPINION

Opinion by Chief Justice VALDEZ.

By two interlocutory appeals, appellate cause numbers 13-10-00016-CV and 13-10-00023-CV, appellants, Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, Cameron County Commissioners Sofia Benavides, John Wood, David Garza, and Edna Tamayo, in their official capacities as Cameron County Commissioners Court, and Richard Burst, Bruce Hodge, and Dylbia Jeffries, in their official capacities as attorneys in the Cameron County Civil Legal Division, complain about trial court orders granting appellee, Cameron County Attorney Armando Villalobos a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction and denying appellants' plea to the jurisdiction. By one issue in each interlocutory appeal, appellants assert that the trial court abused its discretion in granting appellee a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction.¹

Moreover, in appellate cause number 13-10-00059-CV, appellants filed a petition for writ of mandamus and an accompanying emergency motion, arguing that the trial court's order affirming appellee's temporary injunction is void and that appellants are entitled to “supersede” or, in other words, suspend the enforcement of the temporary injunction during the pendency of this matter on appeal.

With regard to appellants' petition for writ of mandamus in appellate cause number 13-10-00059-CV, we conditionally grant the writ requested. Furthermore, we grant appellee's motion to dismiss appellate cause number 13-10-00016-CV. In appellate cause number 13-10-00023-CV, we dissolve the temporary injunction, reverse the judgment of the trial court, and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Background

On December 17, 2009, appellee filed his original petition for declaratory and injunctive relief, asserting that: (1) the Cameron County Commissioners Court improperly transferred the Cameron County Civil Legal Division out of appellee's office; (2) by advising and representing the Cameron County Commissioners Court, the Cameron County Civil Legal Division usurped appellee's constitutional and statutory duties; and (3) the Cameron County Commissioners Court does not have the authority to hire permanent legal counsel. On December 18, 2009, the trial court entered an ex parte order, purportedly issuing a temporary restraining order against appellants and setting the hearing on appellee's application for a temporary injunction for January 1, 2010. The temporary restraining order prevented the Civil Legal Division from advising and representing the Commissioners Court and was set to expire fourteen days from the trial court's December 18, 2009 order.

On December 29, 2009, appellee filed a motion to extend the temporary restraining order and to reset the hearing date on his temporary injunction request. On December 30, 2009, the trial court granted appellee's motion to extend the temporary restraining order and reset the hearing on appellee's request for a temporary injunction to January 15, 2010.

On January 7, 2010, appellants responded by filing a motion to dissolve, vacate, and rescind the trial court's December 18, 2009 ex parte order. In their motion, appellants argued, among other things, that appellee's petition did not comply with the requirements for ex parte relief; the relief sought is not supported by the law; appellee failed to cite any relevant constitutional or statutory provisions that the Cameron County Civil Legal Division usurped; and the ex parte order is legally insufficient and, therefore, void. Shortly thereafter, appellants filed a response and trial brief in opposition to appellee's petition for declaratory and injunctive relief, arguing that: (1) res judicata applied to this litigation, especially in light of this Court's decision in Cameron County v. Lone Star National Bank, 107 S.W.3d 853 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2003, no pet.); (2) appellee is a County Attorney and, therefore, does not have general civil jurisdiction over County matters; (3) declaratory relief is not available to appellee under the Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act (the “Act”); and (4) the Cameron County Commissioners Court has the power to manage the budget and organize County employees. Additionally, on January 8, 2010, appellants filed a plea to the jurisdiction, special exceptions, a cross-action for damages incurred for a wrongfully-obtained temporary restraining order, and an original answer.

On January 15, 2010, the trial court conducted a hearing on all pending motions. At this hearing, Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, Cameron County Clerk Joe G. Rivera, Chief Deputy for the Cameron County Sheriff's Office Gus Reyna Jr., and appellee testified. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court took the matter under advisement.

Subsequently, on January 19, 2010, the trial court granted appellee's motion to enjoin appellants and denied appellants' plea to the jurisdiction. In its January 19, 2010 order, the trial court made the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

1. Plaintiff [appellee] has demonstrated a cause of action against Defendants [appellants]. Plaintiff seeks the Court's determination of the legal duties of the Cameron County Attorney with respect to the statutory requirement of Texas Government Code Section 41.007[,] which says:

A district or county attorney, on request, shall give to a county or precinct official of his district or county a written opinion or written advice relating to the official duties of that official.

The Court finds that the remedy of declaratory judgment is available to Plaintiff in this case. The Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act allows a court with jurisdiction to “declare rights, status, and other legal relations” between the parties whose relations are affected by a statute. Plaintiff asks the Court to consider the rights of the parties under the statute cited above. The district court has jurisdiction over such actions pursuant to Article V, Section 8 of the Texas Constitution and Texas Government Code Section 24.020, and therefore, Defendants' ... plea to the jurisdiction is hereby DENIED;

2. It clearly appears from specific facts shown by Plaintiff's verified application and from the facts and arguments presented to this Court that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to Plaintiff because, unless the Cameron County Commissioners Court is enjoined from seeking advice and representation on questions of regular county business from permanent legal counsel outside the office of the County Attorney without the consent of the County Attorney, Defendants will continue to

1) usurp and unlawfully delegate the statutory duties of Plaintiff, described in Tex. Gov't Code § 41.007, without consent;

2) operate a permanent civil legal division without any express or implied authority to do so;

3) recklessly waste county taxpayer funds on duplicate services without reason and in a clear abuse of discretion they have on budgetary matters; and

4) upset the checks and balances built into our tri-partite [sic] system of government.

This injury will be irreparable unless this restraint is ordered because the statutory duties bestowed upon Plaintiff will be usurped from Plaintiff and will be performed by a non-elected unauthorized party in violation of a Texas statute. Additionally[,] the Court finds, based on the evidence and arguments presented, that taxpayer dollars used to fund the duplicative civil division will continue to be spent in a reckless abuse of the Commissioners Court's discretion. There was no reasonable or articulable need for the creation of the Civil Legal Division and lacking a need for the action, the Commissioners Court's implied powers to carry out express duties do not justify the broad action taken under the authority of Defendant's budgetary discretion.

3. The Court finds that Plaintiff is likely to prevail on the question of whether the Cameron County Attorney has the exclusive duty to provide advice and representation to county officials on regular county business, which includes advising [the] Commissioners Court on proposed actions, contracts, resolutions, and all other ordinary county business. The evidence presented by Plaintiff at the hearing on the temporary injunction persuades this Court that Plaintiff has a probable right to the relief sought to prevent the Commissioners Court from hiring a permanent legal staff to advise county officials, thus usurping the Plaintiff's duty to provide advice to county officials. The Court finds that [the] Commissioners Court cannot impinge on any elected official's statutory duty, exclusive or otherwise, based on the evidence and arguments presented and Texas judicial precedent.

4. Plaintiff is likely to prevail on the merits on the issue of whether [the] Commissioners Court, in creating separate, permanent legal counsel, went beyond the scope of the constitutional or statutory authority vested in the officers of that court based on the arguments and facts presented at the hearing.

5. Unless this restraint is ordered immediately[,] Plaintiff will suffer irreparable injury, because no other legal remedy can be

...