in Re the Honorable Lonnie Cox, Judge of the 56th District Court of Galveston County ( 2016 )

Opinion issued January 7, 2016
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
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NO. 01-15-00797-CV
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IN RE THE HONORABLE LONNIE COX, JUDGE OF THE 56TH
DISTRICT COURT OF GALVESTON COUNTY, Relator
Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Injunction
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Relator, the Honorable Lonnie Cox, Judge of the 56th District Court of
Galveston County, has filed a petition for a writ of injunction directed against
respondents,1 alleging that they have “conducted a campaign of economic coercion
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Respondents are the Honorable Mark Henry, County Judge of Galveston County;
the Honorable Ryan Dennard, Galveston County Commissioner, Precinct One; the
Honorable Joe Giusti, Galveston County Commissioner, Precinct Two; the
Honorable Stephen Holmes, Galveston County Commissioner, Precinct Three; the
Honorable Ken Clark, Galveston County Commissioner, Precinct Four; Robert
against employees of the Galveston County Department of Justice Administration”
and threatened their employment to force them to abandon their current jobs,
dismantle the department, and moot the related appeal filed by respondent, the
Honorable Mark Henry, County Judge of Galveston County, in The Honorable
Mark Henry, County Judge of Galveston County v. The Honorable Lonnie Cox,
Judge of the 56th District Court of Galveston County, No. 01-15-00583-CV, 2015
WL 9412758 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 22, 2015, no pet. h.). Relator
asserts that a writ of injunction is necessary to prevent respondents from
“destroying or impeding the jurisdiction of this court in Case No. 01-15-00583-CV
and to prevent actions—reassignment or replacement of Justice Administration
employees to non-judicial posts—which would violate the Temporary Injunction
below [and] make the appellate controversy moot.”
A court of appeals may grant injunctive relief for the purpose of protecting
its jurisdiction over a pending appeal and to preserve the subject matter of the
litigation so that the appeal does not become moot. See Dall. Morning News v.
Fifth Court of Appeals, 842 S.W.2d 655, 658 (Tex. 1992) (orig. proceeding);
Becker v. Becker, 639 S.W.2d 23, 24 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1982) (orig.
proceeding) (appellate court has jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief to protect its
jurisdiction over pending appeal, but not merely to preserve status quo or prevent
Boemer, Director, Galveston County Legal Department; and Peri Bluemer,
Director, Galveston County Department of Human Resources.
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loss or damage to party); see also TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 22.221(a) (Vernon
2004) (“Each court of appeals or a justice of a court of appeals may issue a writ of
mandamus and all other writs necessary to enforce the jurisdiction of the court.”).
The Court has rendered judgment and issued an opinion in the appeal in
cause number 01-15-00583-CV. Moreover, respondents, in their response filed six
days after relator filed his petition for injunctive relief, advised the Court that the
Galveston County Commissioners Court had “convened a special meeting and
voted to budget” for the positions at issue “in accordance with the Judges’
appointment,” and there was “no danger” of the employees at issue “being fired by
the members of the Commissioners Court.”
We dismiss the petition for writ of injunction as moot. We dismiss any
pending motions as moot.
Terry Jennings
Justice
Panel consists of Justices Jennings, Higley, and Brown.
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