Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of January 15, 2018.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court. 

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Town of Shady Shores v. Swanson, No. 02-15-00338-CV (January 18, 2018) (Pittman, J., joined by Sudderth, C.J., and Kerr, J.).

Held:  Because the Town has the burden to negate jurisdiction, it cannot challenge jurisdiction in a no-evidence motion for summary judgment, and therefore the trial court properly denied the Town’s no-evidence motion.  And because the Town did not negate jurisdiction as to some of Swanson’s claims for declaratory and injunctive relief under the Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act based on alleged violations of Texas’s Open Meetings Act, the trial court correctly declined to dismiss those claims.  However, the Town negated jurisdiction over Swanson’s remaining UDJA claims and her free speech claim, and we therefore dismiss those claims.