in Re Michael Joseph Kearns ( 2018 )

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
NO. 03-17-00838-CV
In re Michael Joseph Kearns
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING FROM WILLIAMSON COUNTY
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Relator Michael Joseph Kearns has filed a petition for writ of mandamus asking this
Court to compel the Williamson County Clerk and the Williamson County Court at Law No. 1 to
take action on Kearns’s application for writ of habeas corpus, which was filed in the court below on
August 31, 2017.
This Court does not have mandamus jurisdiction over the Williamson County Clerk
unless necessary to enforce this Court’s jurisdiction, and our jurisdiction is not implicated here.1 To
the extent that Kearns’s petition is directed at the trial court itself, Kearns has failed to provide this
Court with a record demonstrating that the trial court was asked to rule on the application but refused
to do so or that the application has been pending before the trial court for an unreasonable amount
of time.2 Accordingly, the petition for writ of mandamus is denied.3
1
See Tex. Gov’t Code § 22.221(a), (b); In re Washington, 7 S.W.3d 181, 182 (Tex.
App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, orig. proceeding).
2
See Barnes v. State, 832 S.W.2d 424, 426 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, orig.
proceeding) (discussing requirements for obtaining mandamus relief when properly filed motion is
pending before trial court); see also In re Halley, No. 03-15-00310-CV, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS
_________________________________________
Bob Pemberton, Justice
Before Justices Puryear, Pemberton, and Bourland
Filed: January 30, 2018
7188, at *4 & n. 12 (Tex. App.—Austin Jul. 14, 2015, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) (collecting cases
holding that five to six months is not unreasonable amount of time for motion to remain pending).
3
See Tex. R. App. P. 52.8(a). Kearns has also filed a motion to expedite our decision. We
dismiss that motion as moot.
2