In Re Kevin Dale Sheffield, Relator v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: May 23, 2023
• Docket: 07-23-00200-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In The Court of Appeals Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo

No. 07-23-00200-CR

IN RE KEVIN DALE SHEFFIELD, RELATOR

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING

May 23, 2023 MEMORANDUM OPINION Before QUINN, C.J., and PARKER and DOSS, JJ.

Relator Kevin Dale Sheffield seeks a writ of mandamus ordering respondent, the

Honorable William C. Bosworth, Jr., Judge of the 413th District Court of Johnson County,

to vacate a judgment manifesting Sheffield’s conviction in Cause Number DC-

F201900865. We deny the application for want of jurisdiction.

An appellate court has limited authority to issue writs of mandamus. One limitation

concerns the trial judge at whom it may direct such a writ. The jurist must preside over a

court located within the appellate court’s district. See TEX. GOV. CODE ANN. § 22.221(b)(1)

(stating that “[e]ach court of appeals for a court of appeals district may issue all writs of

mandamus . . . against . . . a judge of a district, statutory county, statutory probate county, or county court in the court of appeals district”). The judge against whom relief is sought

at bar presides over a district court located in Johnson County, Texas. The latter county

is not one of the 46 within the appellate district of the Seventh Court of Appeals. Thus,

the Seventh Court of Appeals lacks jurisdiction to entertain Sheffield’s petition, and we

dismiss it for that reason.

It is so ordered.

Brian Quinn Chief Justice

Do not publish.