Sherrod v. Moore

819 S.W.2d 201, 1991 WL 273735
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 25, 1991
Docket07-91-0167-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 819 S.W.2d 201 (Sherrod v. Moore) 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.

Bluebook
Sherrod v. Moore, 819 S.W.2d 201, 1991 WL 273735 (Tex. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

BOYD, Justice.

In this proceeding, appellant Randall Sherrod, acting in his capacity as Criminal District Attorney, and also acting for Randall County, pursuant to § 41.009 of the Texas Government Code1 seeks an injunction restraining appellees Lyndell Moore, in his capacity as Randall County Auditor, and Geneva Bagwell, in her capacity as Randall County Treasurer, from the expenditure of certain funds. From an interlocutory order denying a temporary injunction, he brings this accelerated appeal. We affirm.

In two points of error, appellant asserts that the trial court abused its discretion in concluding that appellant (1) failed to establish a probable right of recovery, and (2) failed to prove that no adequate legal remedy exists for the harm alleged.

In 1987, the Randall County Commissioner’s Court, by publication in a local newspaper, _gave notice of intention to issue Certificates of Obligation for the purpose of constructing and equipping jail facilities. The Commissioner’s Court thereafter authorized the issuance of the certificates and they were issued. On April 22, 1991, the Commissioner’s Court authorized the payment, out of certificate of obligation funds, of certain architect’s fees for the construction of a regional juvenile detention facility to be built in Randall County. This action gave rise to the instant suit.

Initially, we note that appellate review of an order granting or denying a temporary injunction is strictly limited to determination of whether there has been a clear abuse of discretion by the trial court in granting or denying the interlocutory order and the merits of the underlying action are not presented for review. Indeed, appellate consideration of the merits of the underlying lawsuit is error, for the reviewing court may not assume that the evidence taken at a preliminary hearing will be the same as the evidence developed at a full trial on the merits. Moreover, the reviewing court may not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court. Davis v. Huey, 571 S.W.2d 859, 861 (Tex.1978); Publ. Util. Comm’n of Texas v. Gen. Tel. Co. of the Southwest, 777 S.W.2d 827, 829 (Tex.App.—Austin 1989, writ dism’d); Hertz Corp. v. State Dept. of Highways, 728 S.W.2d 917, 919 (Tex.App.—Austin 1987, no writ).

In the seminal case of Downer v. Aquamarine Operators, Inc., 701 S.W.2d 238 (Tex.1985), the court instructs us as to the test to be applied in determining whether a trial court has abused its discretion. It says:

The test for abuse of discretion is not whether, in the opinion of the reviewing court, the facts present an appropriate case for the trial court’s action. Rather, it is a question of whether the court acted without reference to any guiding rules and principles, (citation omitted). Another way of stating the test is whether the act was arbitrary or unreasonable, (citations omitted). The mere fact that a trial judge may decide a matter in a different manner than an appellate judge in a similar circumstance does not dem[203]*203onstrate that an abuse of discretion has occurred.

Id. at 241-42.

Appellant contends that the expenditures in question would be illegal because (1) a juvenile detention facility was not one of the lawful purposes for which the Certificates of Obligation could issue, and (2) the public did not have adequate notice that the funds were to be used for the construction of a juvenile detention facility. His contention is that a juvenile detention facility is not a jail facility.

Reiterated, appellant contends in his first point that the trial judge erred in concluding that appellant failed to prove a probable right of recovery. It is well established that a probable right of recovery is one of the elements that must be established for a party to be entitled to a temporary injunction. E.g., State v. Cook United, Inc., 464 S.W.2d 105, 106 (Tex.1971); Camp v. Shannon, 162 Tex. 515, 348 S.W.2d 517, 519 (1961).

At the hearing, appellant placed his primary reliance upon statutory provisions, which, he argued, demonstrate his point. These statutes were tendered and received in evidence at the hearing as defendant’s exhibit #4. One of those provisions is contained in Texas Family Code § 51.12 (Vernon 1986). That section describes the required place and conditions of detention of juveniles.2 Section 51.12(a) states “a child shall not be detained or committed to a compartment of a jail ... in which adults ... are detained or committed.”

Appellant contended that, while § 51.-12(a) provides a juvenile detention facility may be located in a compartment of a jail, the facility itself is not a jail but is, rather, a component part of a jail which is not itself a jail. However, that interpretation is inconsistent with the explicit language of § 51.12(c) (Vernon Supp.1991) that extra requirements must be met “if the detention facility is a county jail.” The trial judge could reasonably have concluded that language indicated a legislative determination that a “detention facility,” and a “county jail” were not necessarily separate and distinct concepts.

Appellant also contended that the standards required of juvenile detention facilities under § 51.12(c) additional to those required of county jails indicate that the two represent different concepts and that a detention facility is not a jail. However, the trial judge could well have concluded that, while county jails are a specific type of confinement facility and have certain types of requirements to meet concerning the individuals whose liberty is restrained in those facilities, juvenile detention facilities are also a specific type of confinement facilities in which the freedom of certain individuals is restrained necessitating certain types of requirements to meet concerning those individuals. While those requirements may be different, the reason for existence of both is to detain, and restrain the freedom of, both types of individuals thereby establishing a basic similarity between the two.

In Black’s Law Dictionary (5th ed. 1989), jail is, inter alia, defined as “a building designated by law, or regularly used, for the confinement of persons held in lawful custody.” Id. at 748. The judge could well have concluded that a juvenile detention facility would fit within that definition. He could also reasonably have concluded that the administrative provisions which differ between juvenile detention facilities and other jail facilities did not change that basic similarity between the two.

Parenthetically, the record reveals that the trial judge also had before him evidence of an Attorney General’s opinion construing § 51.12(a). The opinion states, “[T]he juvenile detention facility may be located in the same building as a county jail.” Op. Tex. Att’y Gen. No. H-363 (1974). While such opinions are not binding on the courts, and it is the trial judge’s duty to enter upon an independent inquiry, such opinions may be of persuasive value. E.g., Jessen As[204]*204socs., Inc. v. Bullock,

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Sherrod v. Moore
819 S.W.2d 201 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1991)

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819 S.W.2d 201, 1991 WL 273735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sherrod-v-moore-texapp-1991.