In Re Cory Starnes v. the State of Texas
This text of In Re Cory Starnes v. the State of Texas (In Re Cory Starnes v. the State of Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
NUMBER 13-24-00408-CV
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG
IN RE CORY STARNES
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Justices Benavides, Longoria, and Silva Memorandum Opinion by Justice Longoria1
On August 15, 2024, relator Cory Starnes filed a petition for writ of mandamus
seeking to compel the Honorable Ben Zeller, the County Judge of Victoria County, Texas,
to order a special election for November 5, 2024, regarding incorporating the Village of
Bloomington as a municipality and for the election of its initial governing body. Relator
alleges that the County Judge has been presented with a statutorily sufficient petition and
1 See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.8(d) (“When denying relief, the court may hand down an opinion but is not
required to do so. When granting relief, the court must hand down an opinion as in any other case.”); id. R. 47.1 (“The court of appeals must hand down a written opinion that is as brief as practicable but that addresses every issue raised and necessary to final disposition of the appeal.”); id. R. 47.4 (explaining the differences between opinions and memorandum opinions). thus has a ministerial duty to order the election but has not yet ordered an election.
Relator seeks emergency relief on grounds that the deadline for ordering a special
election is Monday, August 19, 2024.
Mandamus is an extraordinary and discretionary remedy. See In re Allstate Indem.
Co., 622 S.W.3d 870, 883 (Tex. 2021) (orig. proceeding); In re Garza, 544 S.W.3d 836,
840 (Tex. 2018) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam); In re Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., 148
S.W.3d 124, 138 (Tex. 2004) (orig. proceeding). We “may issue a writ of mandamus to
compel the performance of any duty imposed by law in connection with the holding of an
election.” TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. § 273.061(a); see In re Rogers, 690 S.W.3d 296, 299
(Tex. 2024) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam); In re Dominguez, 621 S.W.3d 899, 904 (Tex.
App.—El Paso 2021, orig. proceeding) (per curiam).
The Court, having examined and fully considered the petition for writ of mandamus
and the applicable law, is of the opinion that relator has not met his burden to obtain relief.
Accordingly, we deny the petition for writ of mandamus and relator’s request for
emergency relief.
NORA L. LONGORIA Justice
Delivered and filed on the 16th day of August, 2024.
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
Related
Cite This Page — Counsel Stack
In Re Cory Starnes v. the State of Texas, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-cory-starnes-v-the-state-of-texas-texapp-2024.