PROPOSED AMENDMENT FOR THE 90TH REGULAR LEGISLATIVE SESSION OF 2027:
We propose adding the following provision for Section 22.220 of Texas' Government Code:
(f) The 15th Court of Appeals and the corresponding one of fourteen regional Texas appellate courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction over matters against the State Bar of Texas (and its Commission for Lawyer Discipline) of the judiciary branch of state government, such as attorney discipline pursuant to Chapter 81 of the Texas Government Code. The appellant gets to select the forum.
OR ALTERNATIVELY:
(f) The 15th Court of Appeals shall have jurisdiction over matters against the state including in the judiciary branch of government such as attorney discipline pursuant to Chapter 81 of the Texas Government Code.
The Texas Legislative Counsel has assigned essentially the abovementioned proposed amendment the number of #89(2)-0743.
__
Please realize: Section 22.220, Government Code, Subsection (e) currently still reads as follows:
(e) A party may not file a notice of appeal in a civil case requesting assignment of the appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Fifteenth Court of Appeals District unless the notice includes a matter arising out of or related to the case that is within the court's exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction.
BACKGROUND, POLICY RATIONALES & ANALYSES:
1) The 15th Court of Appeals generates statewide rules interpretations, has a statewide electorate overseeing it, and specializes in matters against the state. Unfortunately the other fourteen state appellate courts here in Texas have generated at times conflicting interpretations of the Texas Bar's rules of professional conduct, aka its (vague and even self-contradictory) "ethics" rules. How can one simultaneously comply with conflicting interpretations of the same rule? We can prove that this happens and that the Texas Bar gets to use this regulatory uncertainty against its critics.
2) As a general resource, here is the website for the 15th Court of Appeals.
3) SECTION 9.12. (a) Section 22.220, Government Code currently says, in part:
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.22.htm
Sec. 22.220. CIVIL JURISDICTION.
(d) The Court of Appeals for the Fifteenth Court of Appeals District has exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction over the following matters arising out of or related to a civil case:
(1) matters brought by or against the state or a board, commission, department, office, or other agency in the executive branch of the state government…or by or against an officer or employee of the state or a board, commission, department, office, or other agency in the executive branch of the state government arising out of that officer’s or employee’s official conduct… [emphases added]
4) The Supreme Court of Texas has already embraced the “doctrine of last antecedent” before, including in Spradlin v. Jim Walter Homes, Inc., 34 SW 3d 578 (2000). In applying that doctrine to this appeal, the modifier “executive branch” applies merely to the word before it, and not to the entire batch that precedes it including “commission”. As an illustrative example offered for analytical purposes, the grammar of the relevant enabling statutory provision for the Fifteenth Court of Appeals resembles that of the following: “I will only eat apples or bananas grown in my garden." There the phrase "grown in my garden" is understood to modify only "bananas," not "apples," according to the doctrine of last antecedent. Something similar can be said for “executive branch” in the statutory authorization of the Fifteenth Court of Appeals. A matter against the state qualifies for the Fifteenth Court of Appeals even if it is not a matter in the executive branch, pursuant to Sec. 22.220 CIVIL JURISDICTION (d)(1), above.
5) Nevertheless, despite the abovementioned reasoning's having been briefed for the justices, the 15th Court of Appeals ruled on May 6th, 2025 that Appellant (& Attorney) Edward Turnbull’s case is not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the court, (apparently) because his case is not against the executive branch. The court then ejected his case to the 3rd Court of Appeals. See, Edward Turnbull v. Commission for Lawyer Discipline & State Bar of Texas, No. 03-25-00328-CV (Tex. App. -- Austin [15th Dist.] 2024): https://search.txcourts.gov/Case.aspx?cn=15-24-00095-CV&coa=coa15 . That was several weeks after the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee had already held its public hearing on the regular session's court omnibus bill (HB 2878) that was eventually vetoed. Mr. Turnbull's case is not the only attorney discipline case to have been rejected by the 15th Court of Appeals...
6) Although Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure #27a (Tex. R. App. P. 27a) is apparently content-neutral on the transferability of attorney discipline cases to the 15th Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Texas has already denied a transfer of at least one other attorney discipline case to the 15th Court of Appeals, and without any explanation or signatures from any justices...
7) H.B. 40 of the 89th regular session eventually made it possible for cases to qualify for the business court's jurisdiction even if they emerged before September 1st, 2024. Business Court cases are appealable to the 15th Court of Appeals. Why should cases otherwise destined for the 15th Court of Appeals but not from Business Court not be entitled to similar hospitality? There are very few such cases left in the appellate system, but attorney discipline matters particularly need the 15th Court of Appeals.
8) Here's information regarding a free webinar hosted during 2025 by the Federalist Society on weaponized Bar lawfare vs. those whom bars seek to cancel.
9)
Policy rationales for the MaJAA Act (89th Legislative Regular Session), here, are helpful for further understanding why attorney discipline cases warrant the kind of statewide, specialized attention that only the 15th Court of Appeals can offer here in Texas.
Reform is on the horizon as the Texas Sunset Commission's review of the Texas Bar, and also of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct begins in late 2027.
For more details on the Sunset review of the Texas Bar, please feel free to visit this official Texas Sunset Commission page dedicated to that Bar.
Thank you for having meaningfully visited this page! Would you like to exercise your democratic rights in favor of the abovementioned (and other) reform proposals?
To find your elected state senator and representative (etc.):
http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us
Meanwhile: Lt. Governor
Additionally:
Here's a (photographic) directory of Texas state senators.
Here's a directory of Texas Senate State Affairs Committee members.
Here's a (photographic) directory of Texas' House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee
* * *
Any questions? Would you like to contact us directly?
You are welcome to visit us at X.com (formerly known as Twitter):
Thank you for having read this and for having considered helping these (good) causes with your democratic participation!
To return to our cover page:
