Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken his fight with Bexar County over its immigration legal service program to the 15th Court of Appeals, setting up the next phase of a rapidly unfolding legal dispute.
After a Bexar County district judge ruled last week that Paxton lacked authority to sue the county over the program, the attorney general’s office filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the Austin-based appeals court.
The filing asks the court to vacate the trial court’s order so that the case could return to the district courts and to direct the judge to grant a temporary restraining order blocking Bexar County from disbursing more than $556,000 to fund immigration legal services at the nonprofit American Gateways.
On Wednesday, the appeals court partially granted emergency relief, temporarily staying the lower court’s order that barred the AG from representing the state. That means Paxton’s office may continue appearing in the case at the district courts while the appeals court considers the broader mandamus petition.
The case will return to presiding court next month in Bexar County where it could be taken up by a different judge. The presiding court is overseen by a rotation of judges that address pretrial hearings on a centralized docket.
A writ of mandamus is an extraordinary legal remedy. Rather than appealing a final judgment, a party asks a higher court to intervene immediately, arguing that a trial court abused its discretion and that there is no adequate remedy through a normal appeal.
Mandamus is typically reserved for urgent procedural disputes — especially where a party claims that waiting for a final judgment would cause irreparable harm.
In this case, Paxton argues that the trial court abused its discretion by granting the county’s “motion to show authority,” which found that the attorney general lacked constitutional or statutory authority to bring the lawsuit. Arguing that the county’s motion conflicts with precedent that has established the authority for the attorney general to prosecute “ultra vires suits like this one,” which created an “unnecessary emergency for the parties and this court.”
An ultra vires suit is a legal action brought against a government official or corporation for acting outside the scope of their legal authority, violating laws, or exceeding their chartered powers.
The state also contends the trial court should have granted a temporary restraining order to prevent what it characterizes as an unconstitutional disbursement of public funds under the Texas Constitution’s gift clause.
However, the court declined — at least for now — to block the disbursement of funds. The underlying contract amendment authorizing the $556,181 in funding is set to expire Friday, Feb. 28.
Bexar County officials have maintained the immigration legal services program serves a public purpose and have argued that the attorney general lacks authority to sue over the county’s discretionary budget decisions.
The 15th Court of Appeals has not yet ruled on whether the trial court abused its discretion or whether the funding violates the gift clause. Its recent order addresses only interim procedural issues.
With the contract set to expire and the appeals process now underway, the legal fight over the county’s immigration legal services fund appears likely to continue beyond the immediate funding deadline.
