U.S. Sand & Gravel LLC, Raitz Enterprises, Inc., and Raitz Investment Group LLC v. Texas Department of Transportation

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided September 16, 2025·No. 15-25-00091-CV·Published

Opinion

ACCEPTED

15-25-00091-CV

FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 9/16/2025 2:59 PM

NO. 15-25-00091-CV CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE _____________________________________________________________________ CLERK FILED IN

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE 15th AUSTIN, COURT OF APPEALS

TEXAS

FIFTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN 9/16/2025 2:59:25 PM

CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE

Clerk

U.S. SAND AND GRAVEL, LLC, RAITZ ENTERPRISES, INC. AND RAITZ INVESTMENT GROUP, LLC, Appellants,

V.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Appellee.

JOINT MOTION REQUESTING RENDERING OF FINAL JUDGMENT

TO THE HONORABLE FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS:

Appellants U.S. Sand and Gravel, LLC, Raitz Enterprises, Inc., and Raitz

Investment Group, LLC (Raitz), and Appellee the Texas Department of

Transportation (TxDOT), (collectively the Parties), present this motion pursuant to

Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 42.1(a)(2)(A) and respectfully request that the

Court render final judgment effectuating the parties’ agreement in this case. See

Ex. A. As grounds for this motion, the Parties respectfully show the Court the

following:

1. The trial court entered a default judgment in this matter on

February 12, 2025, ordering that Raitz is permanently enjoined from operating

three sand and gravel pits for failure to obtain safety certificates as required and

penalties of $20,000. See Ex. B.

2. TxDOT filed a motion to enforce the default judgment March 24, 2025.

3. Raitz filed a motion to vacate the default judgment and for new trial

which was denied May 16, 2025.

4. Raitz filed notice of its restricted appeal on May 16, 2025.

5. The Parties entered into a Rule 11 agreement on May 22, 2025, to

attempt to resolve the safety certificate noncompliance issue.

6. After completed safety certificate applications were submitted and

TxDOT completed its investigation of the three Raitz quarries, safety certificates

were issued on June 30, 2025. Ex. C.

7. The Parties have now reached an agreement and thus request that the

Court render judgment effectuating the Parties’ agreement as contained in the

attached Agreed Final Judgment. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.1(a)(2)(A).

For the reasons above, the Parties respectfully request that this Court render

judgment in accordance with the Parties’ Agreed Final Judgment and dismiss this

appeal.

Respectfully submitted,

KEN PAXTON /s/William L. Mennucci

Attorney General of Texas WILLIAM L. MENNUCCI State Bar No. 00788042

BRENT WEBSTER Thompson, Coe, Cousins, & Irons, First Assistant Attorney General L.L.P.

2801 Via Fortuna, Suite 300 RALPH MOLINA Austin, Texas 78746 Deputy First Assistant Attorney Telephone: (512) 703-5085 General bmennucci@thomsponcoe.com Lead Counsel

AUSTIN KINGHORN Deputy Attorney General for Civil KASEY RACHEL Litigation Dorsett Johnson, LLP 421 W. Third Street, Suite 700 NANETTE M. DINUNZIO Fort Worth, Texas 76102 Chief, Transportation Division Telephone: (817) 900-8202 Facsimile: (817) 882-8526 krachel@dorsettjohnson.com /s/Joshua Longi

JOSHUA LONGI COUNSEL FOR APPELLANTS State Bar No. 24095228 Assistant Attorney General Transportation Division P.O. Box 12548 Austin, Texas 78711-2548 Telephone: (512) 936-1122 Facsimile: (512) 936-0888 joshua.longi@oag.texas.gov

COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

This is to certify that on this day, September 16, 2025, a true and correct copy of the foregoing Joint Motion Requesting Rendering of Final Judgment was sent to the following as indicated below:

William L. Mennucci State Bar No. 00788042 Thompson, Coe, Cousins, & Irons, L.L.P. 2801 Via Fortuna, Suite 300 Austin, Texas 78746 Telephone: (512) 703-5085 bmennucci@thomsponcoe.com Lead Counsel

Kasey Rachel Dorsett Johnson, LLP 421 W. Third Street, Suite 700 Fort Worth, Texas 76102 Telephone: (817) 900-8202 Facsimile: (817) 882-8526 krachel@dorsettjohnson.com

COUNSEL FOR APPELLANTS

/s/Joshua Longi

JOSHUA LONGI Assistant Attorney General

Exhibit A

NO. 15-25-00091-CV

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

U.S. SAND AND GRAVEL, LLC, RAITZ ENTERPRISES, INC. AND RAITZ INVESTMENT GROUP, LLC, Appellants,

V.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Appellee.

AGREED FINAL JUDGMENT

The Parties in the above-named cause have reached agreement in this case

and announce a settlement resolving all claims and finally disposing of this case.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

U.S. Sand and Gravel, LLC, Raitz Enterprises, Inc., and Raitz Investment

Group, LLC (collectively Raitz) operate three sand and gravel quarries, two in Erath

County and one in Comanche County: TxDOT Pit No. 2230, SC-1367, Erath

County, Seldon, Texas, FM 913; TxDOT Pit No. 2231, SC-1368, Erath County,

Hico, Texas, 17298 US Highway 281; and TxDOT Pit No. 2232, SC-1369,

Comanche County, Dublin, Texas, 4458 FM 1476. None of the three quarries had

applied for and received safety certificates as required by the Texas Department of

Transportation (TxDOT). See Tex. Nat. Res. Code § 133.045; 43 Tex. Admin. Code

§ 21.711.

TxDOT sued Raitz to obtain compliance, injunctive relief, and civil penalties

in July 2024. When Raitz failed to answer the suit, TxDOT moved for default

judgment in October 2024. The trial court signed a default judgment in

February 2025, enjoining Raitz from operating any of the three pits and assessing a

$20,000 penalty. TxDOT filed a motion to enforce the default judgment on

March 24, 2025, and a few days later, Raitz filed a motion to vacate default judgment

and for new trial. The trial court ultimately denied Raitz’s motion, and Raitz filed

notice of a restricted appeal. Raitz and TxDOT subsequently entered into a Rule 11

agreement which provided Raitz with an opportunity to apply for the safety

certificates. After completed safety certificate applications were submitted and

TxDOT completed its investigation of the three Raitz quarries, safety certificates

were issued on June 30, 2025.

II. Terms of Agreement

Given that Raitz has obtained the required safety certificates from TxDOT,

the parties have reached an agreement to settle and dispose of this case as follows:

1. Raitz may operate the three quarries described above pursuant to the terms of

the safety certificates issued by TxDOT on June 30, 2025.

2. Raitz shall operate and maintain the quarries pursuant to all applicable laws

and regulations and acknowledges that failure to do so could result in

cancelation of the safety certificates, civil penalties, or both.

3. Raitz shall not operate any other quarry that does not have a current safety

certificate issued by TxDOT if required by Texas Natural Resources Code

§ 133.045, or that is not in compliance with all applicable laws and

regulations.

4. Raitz shall pay a penalty in the amount of $20,000.00 for the violations

identified at the three quarries listed above, which accrued prior to Raitz

having been issued safety certificates on June 30, 2025.

5. Post-judgment interest on the penalty amount in paragraph 4 will be calculated

at the rate of five percent (5%) compounded annually from February 12, 2025,

until the penalty is paid in full.

6. Raitz agrees to dismiss the restricted appeal pending in the Fifteenth Court

of Appeals at Austin, Texas.

III. Injunction

It is therefore ORDERED that Raitz, its officers, directors, employees, agents,

legal representatives, subsidiary organizations, parent organizations, successor

corporations, insurers, and assigns, and all other persons, firms, or corporations who

might be liable, are hereby enjoined from owning, operating or maintaining any

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