TCAA/TML Legal Defense Program: Amicus Briefs and Comments Filed

TCAA, in conjunction with the Texas Municipal League, files amicus briefs and comments in support of cities on many issues. To keep up to date on the status of these issues, go to: http://www.tml.org/p/AmicusBriefUpdate_081315.pdf 

Concealed Handguns:  RQ-0040-KP, The extent to which firearms may be excluded from buildings that contain courts, offices utilized by the courts, and other county officials.  The Texas Municipal League and the Texas City Attorneys Association argued to the attorney general that a handgun license holder is prohibited from carrying anywhere on the premises of any building that houses any courtroom or court office, including those of a municipal court.  The comments were filed on July 29, 2015.

Sovereign Immunity:  Engleman Irrigation Dist. v. Shields Brothers, Inc., No. 15-0188, in the Supreme Court of Texas.  TML and TCAA filed an amicus brief in support of the Engleman Irrigation District (EID).  In 1992, Shields Brothers, Inc. (Shields) sued EID for breach of an agreement to provide irrigation water. EID pleaded sovereign immunity, which the district court denied. A jury found that EID breached the agreement with Shields and in March 1995, the district court granted judgment against EID for monetary damages. The brief argues that under Tooke v. City of Mexia, decided by the Supreme Court of Texas in 2006, a trial court would not have subject-matter jurisdiction over a claim against an irrigation district like the claim asserted by Shields.  TML and TCAA argue in the brief that the 1995 judgment is no longer enforceable because it is inconsistent with Tooke and HB 2039, passed in 2005 amending chapter 271 of the Local Government Code relating to contractual immunity.  TML and TCAA ask the court to grant EID’s petition for review and hold that immunity from suit bars the judgment against EID.  The brief was filed on May 8, 2015.