In Re Hector Hernandez v. the State of Texas

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 8th District (El Paso)
• Decided: January 30, 2026
• Docket: 08-26-00060-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS EL PASO, TEXAS ————————————

No. 08-26-00060-CV

————————————

In re Hector Hernandez

AN ORIGINAL PROCEEDING IN MANDAMUS

M E MO RA N D UM O PI NI O N Relator, Hector Hernandez, filed a petition for writ of mandamus asking this Court to

command the Sheriff of El Paso County, Texas, to enforce a writ of execution issued on January

28, 2025. In the alternative, he requests this Court to order the trial court to issue a writ of

possession to remedy the harm caused by the Sheriff’s inaction.

An appellate court may issue a writ of mandamus against judges of a district, statutory

county, statutory probate, or a county court in the court of appeals district. Tex. Gov’t Code Ann.

§ 22.221(b). In support of his request against the county Sheriff, Hernandez points to § 802.003 of the Government Code which is inapplicable as it authorizes trial courts to grant mandamus relief

when the governing body of a public retirement system fails or refuses to comply with statutory

requirements. Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 802.003. We have no mandamus jurisdiction over a sheriff

unless the issuance of the writ is necessary to enforce our jurisdiction. In re Coronado, 980 SW.2d

691, 692 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1998, orig. proceeding) (per curiam). We conclude the writ

Hernandez is requesting is not necessary to enforce our jurisdiction. Tex. Gov’t Code Ann.

§ 22.221(b)–(c); In re Brawner, No. 04-22-00443-CV, 2022 WL 2960221, at *1 (Tex. App.—San

Antonio July 27, 2022, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) per curiam) (dismissing petition for writ of

mandamus for want of jurisdiction over a county Sheriff).

To the extent Hernandez requests alternative relief against the trial court, we have

determined that he has failed to show his entitlement to mandamus relief. See In re Kappmeyer,

668 S.W.3d 651, 654 (Tex. 2023) (orig. proceeding) (“Mandamus relief is an extraordinary remedy

requiring the relator to show that (1) the trial court clearly abused its discretion and (2) the relator

lacks an adequate remedy by appeal.”).

We dismiss the petition to the extent it seeks mandamus relief against the county Sheriff

for want of jurisdiction. We deny the petition to the extent it seeks mandamus relief against the

trial court. We dismiss all pending motions as moot.

GINA M. PALAFOX, Justice

January 30, 2026

Before Palafox and Soto, JJ., Benavides, J. (Senior Judge) Benavides, J. (Senior Judge), sitting by assignment