the City of El Paso, Texas v. Caples Land Company, LLC and William D. Abraham

408 S.W.3d 26, 2013 WL 243617, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 664
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 23, 2013
Docket08-10-00264-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 408 S.W.3d 26 (the City of El Paso, Texas v. Caples Land Company, LLC and William D. Abraham) 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.

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the City of El Paso, Texas v. Caples Land Company, LLC and William D. Abraham, 408 S.W.3d 26, 2013 WL 243617, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 664 (Tex. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Chief Justice.

The City of El Paso, Texas brings this interlocutory appeal from an order denying its plea to the jurisdiction and granting a temporary injunction. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

Capíes Land Company, LLC owns a building in El Paso, Texas. On March 31, 2010, the City of El Paso Building and Standards Commission (the Commission) held a hearing and issued an order finding that: (1) the structure is substandard; (2) the structure is not in substantial compliance with municipal ordinances regulating fire protection, structural integrity, and disposal of refuse; (3) the structure can be rehabilitated; and (4) in order to be made safe, certain violations must be corrected. The order required Appellees 1 to take certain actions and make repairs, including the removal of non-permitted and illegal electrical wiring, the repair of noncompli-ant restrooms, the removal of non-permitted partitions and ceilings, the removal of non-permitted mechanical systems, the re *30 moval of all broken window glass, and the removal of all trash and debris. The order provided that if these requirements were not met within sixty days, “the structures [sic] certificate of occupancy be revoked and that the structure be vacated.” The order additionally provided that upon the owner’s failure to comply with the order, the City of El Paso may request a hearing before the Building and Standards Commission to determine the amount and duration of civil penalties resulting from the noncompliance.

Appellees made repairs they believed to be feasible and on May 24, 2010, Appellees appealed the Commission’s order to the district court pursuant to Section 214.0012 of the Texas Local Government Code. Two months later, Appellees filed an application for an injunction to prevent the Commission from holding a hearing to determine whether the building had been brought into compliance with the March 31, 2010 order. The City filed a plea to the jurisdiction asserting that the district court lacked jurisdiction or authority to enjoin the Commission from holding any hearings pending the appeal. The City additionally challenged the merits of Ap-pellees’ request for an injunction. Following a hearing, the district court denied the City’s plea to the jurisdiction and granted Appellees’ request for a temporary injunction. The City filed notice of interlocutory appeal pursuant to Sections 51.014(a)(4) and (a)(8) of Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. 51.014(a)(4), (8)(West 2008)(authorizing interlocutory appeal from an order denying a plea to the jurisdiction by a governmental unit and from an order granting a temporary injunction).

APPEAL FROM DENIAL OF PLEA TO THE JURISDICTION

The first portion of this opinion will address the City’s interlocutory appeal from the denial of its plea to the jurisdiction. The City raises three issues related to the district court’s ruling on the plea to the jurisdiction.

Jurisdiction vs. Authority

In its first two issues, the City challenges the district court’s jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief and to hear live witnesses at the hearing on Appellees’ application for injunctive relief. In Issue One, the City contends, based on the doctrine of governmental immunity, that the district court lacked jurisdiction to enjoin the Commission from holding any hearings pending the appeal. The Appellees maintain that the issue raised by the City is not one of jurisdiction but of the district court’s authority to grant injunctive relief. Appellees further argue that the district court is authorized to protect its jurisdiction by granting an injunction as authorized by Section 24.011 of the Texas Government Code. In Issue Two, the City asserts that the district court did not have jurisdiction to hear live witnesses in a judicial review proceeding conducted under Section 214.0012 of the Texas Local Government Code. The City alternatively argues that even if the issues are not jurisdictional, the trial court erred by granting injunctive relief because it was not authorized to do so and by relying on live testimony at the hearing. In this portion of the opinion, we will restrict our review to the jurisdictional arguments raised by the City and we will address the City’s alternative non-jurisdictional arguments in our discussion related to Issue Four which relates to the temporary injunction.

Standard of Review

The purpose of a plea to the jurisdiction is to dismiss a cause of action without regard to whether the claim has merit. *31 Bland Independent School District v. Blue, 34 S.W.3d 547, 554 (Tex.2000). It is a dilatory plea that challenges the court’s power to adjudicate the subject matter of the controversy. Harris County v. Sykes, 136 S.W.3d 635, 638 (Tex.2004); Bland, 34 S.W.3d at 554; Texas Department of Transportation v. Arzate, 159 S.W.3d 188, 190 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2004, no pet.). Subject matter jurisdiction is essential to the authority of a court to decide a case. Bland, 34 S.W.3d at 553-54. Subject matter jurisdiction cannot be conferred by consent and cannot be waived. Carroll v. Carroll, 304 S.W.3d 366, 367 (Tex.2010); Continental Coffee Products Co. v. Cazarez, 937 S.W.2d 444, 448 n. 2 (Tex.1996). Whether a party has alleged facts that affirmatively demonstrate a trial court’s subject matter jurisdiction and whether undisputed evidence of jurisdictional facts establishes a trial court’s jurisdiction are questions of law which we review de novo. Texas Department of Parks & Wildlife v. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d 217, 226 (Tex.2004); Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission v. IT-Davy, 74 S.W.3d 849, 855 (Tex.2002).

Governmental Immunity

Sovereign immunity protects the State from lawsuits for money damages. Reata Construction Corporation v. City of Dallas, 197 S.W.3d 371, 374 (Tex.2006). In addition to protecting the State from liability, it also protects the various divisions of state government, including agencies, boards, hospitals, and universities. Wichita Falls State Hospital v. Taylor, 106 S.W.3d 692, 694 n. 3 (Tex.2003). Governmental immunity, on the other hand, protects political subdivisions of the State, including counties, cities, and school districts. Id.

Jurisdiction of a District Court

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Bluebook (online)
408 S.W.3d 26, 2013 WL 243617, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 664, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-city-of-el-paso-texas-v-caples-land-company-llc-and-william-d-texapp-2013.