In Re Darrell J. Harper v. the State of Texas

Opinion

Opinion issued August 12, 2025

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-25-00599-CV ——————————— IN RE DARRELL J. HARPER, Relator

Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION Relator, Darrell J. Harper, a vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order, filed

a pro se petition for writ of mandamus, in which he requested that this Court issue a

writ of mandamus to “lift sanction put in place to keep relator at or below the federal

poverty level,” and to further “instruct [the] trial court to reinstate lawsuits.”1

1 The respondent is the Honorable Latosha Lewis Payne, the Local Administrative District Judge of Harris County, Texas. Generally, the Clerk of this Court may not file an appeal or original

proceeding in a civil matter presented by a vexatious litigant subject to a pre-filing

order unless: (1) the litigant first obtains an order from the local administrative judge

permitting the filing or (2) the litigant is appealing from a pre-filing order declaring

the person a vexatious litigant. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 11.103(a).

Here, relator has not provided the Court with any indication that he obtained

permission from the local administrative judge prior to filing her mandamus petition.

However, relator’s petition appears to challenge a June 16, 2025

“Administrative Order Denying Leave and for Additional Information Concerning

One Claim of Vexatious Litigant: Darrell Harper,” signed by the Honorable Latosha

Lewis Payne, the Local Administrative District Judge of Harris County, Texas. In

this order Judge Payne denied relator’s “request to pursue litigation against The State

of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott[,]Attorney General Warren K. Paxton, the City of

Houston[,] and Harris County for generally alleged civil rights violations and

harassment, including zoning law violations and misappropriation of tax dollars.”

The order further denied relator’s request “to sue Judge Rhonda Hurley[] for issuing

the vexatious litigant order.” In denying that request, Judge Payne noted that any

such “request must be made in Travis County, Texas,” as the Honorable Rhonda

Hurley is the presiding judge of the 201st District Court of Travis County, Texas.

2 Our review of relator’s mandamus petition reflects that relator has failed to

establish that he is entitled to mandamus relief. We dismiss any pending motions as

moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Guerra, Gunn, and Dokupil.