In Re A. H. v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: February 28, 2024
• Docket: 02-24-00081-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________ No. 02-24-00081-CV ___________________________

IN RE A.H., Relator

Original Proceeding 393rd District Court of Denton County, Texas Trial Court No. 18-0987-393

Before Sudderth, C.J.; Womack and Walker, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Sudderth MEMORANDUM OPINION

Relator A.H. has filed a petition for writ of mandamus challenging part of a

May 19, 2023 contempt order rendered by the 393rd District Court (the Denton

County trial court) that required A.H. to pay $9,605 as a sanction; the order did not

include confinement as a remedy.1 Relator previously filed an appeal from that

contempt order––in which she also challenges a May 17, 2023 Order in Suit to

Modify Parent–Child Relationship that the Denton County trial court rendered in the

same case. The appeal remains pending in this court.2

On October 23, 2023––after the appeal had been filed––the Denton County

trial court transferred the underlying suit affecting the parent–child relationship to

Johnson County, Texas, and on October 25, 2023, the 249th District Court accepted

the transfer. This court does not have jurisdiction over appeals or original

proceedings from courts in Johnson County, Texas. See Tex. Const. art. 5, § 6(a)

(“The state shall be divided into courts of appeals districts, . . . [and each] Court of

Appeals shall have appellate jurisdiction co-extensive with the limits of their

respective districts”); Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.201(c) (listing counties in Second

Court of Appeals’s District), § 22.201(k) (listing Johnson County in Tenth Court of

Appeals’s district), § 22.220(a) (limiting civil appellate jurisdiction of appellate court to

The Denton County trial court found that A.H. had failed to comply with two 1

provisions of the agreed parenting plan incorporated into the divorce decree; Relator challenges the contempt findings and sanction related to only one of those provisions.

In the appeal, the brief of Real Party in Interest is due March 11, 2024. 2

2 its district), § 22.221(b)–(c) (limiting appellate court’s writ jurisdiction to its district).

Neither the Denton County trial court nor the Johnson County trial court has acted in

this case since the transfer date.

In her mandamus petition, Relator requests that we (1) “void all portions of the

May 19, 2023, Corrected Order Holding Respondent in Civil Contempt related to Violation 2,”

including the order for her to pay $9,605 to the Real Party in Interest; (2) order Real

Party in Interest to disgorge amounts Relator has already paid to him pursuant to the

contempt order; and (3) order the trial court to “release to [her] the balance of the

funds that she paid into the Registry of the Court for the contempt fine.” Although

Relator did not include in the mandamus record any documentation showing the total

payments to the Denton County trial court’s registry, the Denton County trial court

clerk has informed our clerk’s office that as of January 24, 2024, $4,000 is being held

in its registry. Relator has not asserted in her petition, nor does the Denton County

trial court’s online docket indicate, that she has filed any request with the Denton

County trial court asking for the release of these funds or their transfer to the Johnson

County District Clerk.

To the extent Relator seeks to have this court vacate part of the contempt

order as void3 and order the Denton County trial court to disburse funds in its registry

3 Because more than 30 days have elapsed since the Denton County trial court’s transfer order, it no longer has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over proceedings involving the children in this case. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 155.206(d) (“After the transfer, the transferring court does not retain jurisdiction of the child who is the subject of the suit, nor does it have jurisdiction to enforce its order for a violation 3 to Relator, we deny mandamus relief. And we cannot grant relief directed to the

249th District Court of Johnson County. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. §§ 22.201(c),

22.221(b); In re Grumbles, No. 08-22-00230-CR, 2022 WL 17082348, at *1 (Tex.

App.—El Paso Nov. 18, 2022, orig. proceeding); see also Blevins, 480 S.W.3d at 543

(noting that, generally, a writ will not issue against a judge for what another judge did).

Accordingly, we deny Relator’s petition for writ of mandamus.

/s/ Bonnie Sudderth

Bonnie Sudderth Chief Justice

Delivered: February 28, 2024

occurring before or after the transfer of jurisdiction.”); see also In re Sw. Bell Tel. Co., 35 S.W.3d 602, 605 (Tex. 2000) (orig. proceeding). Although a particular respondent is not critical in a mandamus proceeding, the writ must be directed to someone. In re Blevins, 480 S.W.3d 542, 543 (Tex. 2013) (orig. proceeding). 4