In Re Reynaldo Morales v. the State of Texas

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston)
• Decided: April 2, 2026
• Docket: 01-26-00227-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued April 2, 2026

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-26-00227-CV ——————————— IN RE REYNALDO MORALES, Relator

Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Relator Reynaldo Morales seeks a writ of mandamus to compel an insurance

company to pay him benefits.1

“A court may, on its own motion or the motion of any party, enter an order

prohibiting a person from filing, pro se, a new litigation in a court to which the

order applies under this section without permission of the appropriate local

1 The underlying case is Reynaldo Morales v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of Connecticut, cause number 2013-54065, pending in the 165th District Court of Harris, County, Texas, the Honorable Bruce Bain presiding. administrative judge described by [Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code]

[s]ection 11.102(a) to file the litigation if the court finds, after notice and hearing

. . . that the person is a vexatious litigant.” T EX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE

§ 11.101(a). A vexatious litigant order signed by a district court applies to every

court in the State of Texas. See id. § 11.101(e).

Relator has been declared a vexatious litigant and subject to a pre-filing

order, prohibiting him from filing, pro se, new litigation without seeking the

permission of an appropriate local administrative judge. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. &

REM. CODE §§ 11.101, 11.102. The pre-filing order was signed by a Harris County

district court in Reynaldo Morales v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of Connecticut, No.

2016-02771 (165th Dist. Ct., Harris County, Tex., March 28, 2016). See Office of

Court Administration, List of Vexatious Litigants Subject to a Pre-Filing Order,

https://www.txcourts.gov/judicial-data/vexatious-litgants/ (last visited March 26,

2026); see also TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE § 11.104(b) (requiring Office of

Court Administration to maintain and post list of vexatious litigants on agency’s

website); Douglas v. Porter, No. 14-10-00055-CV, 2011 WL 1601292, at *1 n.2

(Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Apr. 26, 2011, pet. denied) (mem. op.) (“A court

may . . . take judicial notice of a prior finding that [a party] is a vexatious

litigant.”).

2 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 § 11.103(a). Here, relator’s

petition for writ of mandamus is not an appeal from a pre-filing order declaring

him a vexatious litigant, and relator has not provided any order from the local

administrative judge permitting the filing of this pro se original proceeding.

Accordingly, we dismiss relator’s petition for writ of mandamus for lack of

jurisdiction. Any pending motions are dismissed as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Chief Justice Adams and Justices Guerra and Guiney.