Texas Department of Public Safety v. Ackerman

31 S.W.3d 672, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6712, 2000 WL 1474095
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 4, 2000
Docket10-99-302-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 31 S.W.3d 672 (Texas Department of Public Safety v. Ackerman) 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
Texas Department of Public Safety v. Ackerman, 31 S.W.3d 672, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6712, 2000 WL 1474095 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

OPINION

BILL VANCE, Justice.

After a Justice of the Peace upheld the Texas Department of Public Safety’s decision to suspend Ronald K. Ackerman’s concealed handgun license, Ackerman appealed the ruling to the County Court at Law. His appeal was considered by the judge of the County Criminal Court who had also heard the criminal case underlying DPS’s action. During the course of the de novo proceeding, DPS abandoned [674]*674its effort to suspend Ackerman’s license. Acting on Ackerman’s motion for a summary judgment, however, the county criminal court awarded him $1,895 in attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses under chapter 105 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. In this appeal, DPS claims that the court’s ruling was erroneous because (a) the controversy was moot, (b) the court did not have statutory jurisdiction, and (c) Ackerman failed to establish his entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. Although we reject both of DPS’s jurisdictional arguments, we will sustain its procedural complaint, reverse the trial court’s judgment, and remand the cause for further proceedings.

Background

In September 1996, Ackerman was issued a concealed handgun license (CHL) by DPS. In May of the next year, Acker-man was charged with the offense of fading to display his CHL to a peace officer when requested. Tex.Rev.Civ.StatAnn. art. 4413(29ee) § 6(h), (i) (repealed, 1997).1 The charges were filed in the Dallas County Criminal Court No. 2. In response to this charge, DPS notified Ackerman that it was suspending his CHL. Id. §§ 7, 13.2 As allowed by the statute, Ackerman chose to contest DPS’s action in a justice court. Id. § 7(a), (b).3 The justice of the peace upheld the decision to suspend Ackerman’s license, and in February 1998, Ackerman appealed the JP’s decision to a Dallas County Court at Law for a trial de novo. Id. § 7(c), (e).4 Before the county court, Ackerman argued that article 4413(29ee) did not authorize DPS to suspend his license, and that he was entitled to recover his attorney fees, expenses, and costs incurred in the proceeding under chapter 105 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Tex.CivPrac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 105.002 (Vernon 1997).

Ackerman’s appeal was docketed in the County Court at Law No. 4. Before that court took any action on the case, however, the Dallas County District Attorney dismissed the charges underlying the suspension of Ackerman’s license,5 and on June 1, 1998, DPS notified Ackerman that his license had been reinstated. A month after his license was reinstated, the County Court at Law No. 4 transferred the case to the Dallas County Criminal Court No. 2, indicating that the case was being transferred for “concurrent disposition” with the criminal charges against Ackerman that had been filed in that court. Eight [675]*675months later, Ackerman moved for a summary judgment on his claim for attorneys fees, costs, and expenses. The court granted his motion, awarding him $1,895, and DPS brought this appeal.

Jurisdictional issues

We first address those issues which would give DPS the greatest relief. Bradleys’ Elec., Inc. v. Cigna Lloyds Ins. Co., 995 S.W.2d 675, 677 (Tex.1999); see also Tex.R.App.P. 47.1 (“The court of appeals must hand down a written opinion that is as brief as practicable but that addresses every issue raised and necessary to final disposition of the appeal”). If DPS is correct about the suspension appeal being moot, we would reverse the judgment and dismiss the action. If its assertion about the county criminal court at law’s authority is correct, we would have to both reverse the judgment and remand the suit with instructions to return the proceeding to the county court at law. Thus, we address these arguments first.

Is the controversy moot?

The existence of an actual controversy is a jurisdictional requirement for judicial action. FDIC v. Nueces County, 886 S.W.2d 766, 767 (Tex.1994). Thus, if the controversy were moot, neither the trial court nor this court would have any jurisdiction over the issues involved in the proceeding. Id. DPS argues that the controversy was rendered moot by its decision to reinstate Ackerman’s license after the criminal charges were dropped and that his claim for attorney’s fees and costs cannot breathe life back into the action. We disagree.

As presented to the county court at law, this proceeding involved two controversies. First, DPS claimed that it was entitled to suspend Ackennan’s license due to his pending criminal charges, a claim on which it carried the burden of proof in the de novo proceeding before the county court at law. See Sanchez v. Huntsville Indep. Sch. Dist., 844 S.W.2d 286, 289 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, no writ) (“In appeals from justice court to county court, the judgment of the justice court is vacated and the plaintiff has the burden of proving his case again.”). Second, in what amounted to a counterclaim against DPS, Ackerman claimed that DPS’s entire cause of action against him was frivolous, entitling him to recover attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses under chapter 105 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.

Chapter 105 is referred to as the “Frivolous Claims Act.” Brainard v. State, 12 S.W.3d 6, 30 (Tex.1999). “The purpose of chapter 105 is to afford an aggrieved citizen some remedy from a governmental agency for the misuse of governmental power.” Id. at 31 (quoting Black v. Dallas Co. Child Welfare Unit, 835 S.W.2d 626, 629 n. 5 (Tex.1992)). To provide this remedy, the act allows for a party opposing the state in a civil action to be awarded attorneys fees, costs, and expenses when the state agency asserts a claim that is “frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.” Tex.Civ.PRAc. & Rem.Code Ann. § 105.002(1); Brainard, 12 S.W.3d at 30. “An action may be deemed unreasonable for purposes of the Frivolous Claims Act when ‘the totality of the tendered evidence [fails] to demonstrate any arguable basis for the ... claim.’ ” Brainard, 12 S.W.3d at 30 (quoting Attorney Gen. v. Johnson, 791 S.W.2d 200, 202 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1990, writ denied)). The concealed handgun license statute specifically makes this chapter applicable to proceedings involving the suspension of a CHL. Tex.Rev. Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 4413(29ee) § 7(d) (repealed, 1997).6

When DPS abandoned the effort to suspend Ackerman’s license, the first controversy was resolved. However, the second controversy remained, and the court had the authority to resolve the issues necessary to dispose of the claims of the parties. [676]*676See Leon Springs Gas Co. v. Restaurant Equipment Leasing Co., 961 S.W.2d 674, 579 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1997, no pet.).

Statutory jurisdiction

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Texas Department of Public Safety v. Ackerman
31 S.W.3d 672 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
31 S.W.3d 672, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6712, 2000 WL 1474095, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-department-of-public-safety-v-ackerman-texapp-2000.