Maverick County Citizen Files Mandamus Petition Against Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustees on Vacant Trustee Position
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2024
Maverick County citizen, Enriqueta Diaz, filed an Emergency Petition for Writ of Mandamus against the Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustees Jorge Barrera, Hilda P. Martinez, Hector Alvarez, Glenna Purcell, Christopher Hiller, Victor Perry, Jr., Superintendent Samuel Mijares, and Election Administrator Ismael Mijares on August 5, 2024 in the 365th Judicial District Court, Maverick County, Texas, requesting the Court to “Order the EPISD Board of Directors, Superintendent [Samuel Mijares], and EPISD Election Administrator [Ismael Mijares] to publicly open Lupita Fuentes’ vacant position so eligible candidates can register for that position before the last day of [candidate] registration” of August 19, 2024.
Diaz is representing herself as a pro se Plaintiff in the lawsuit as a Maverick County citizen.
The lawsuit arises from the vacancy created on the Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustees by the death of Trustee Lupita Fuentes on April 1, 2024, creating a vacancy on the Board.
Diaz alleges that upon the death of former Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustee Lupita Fuentes death on April 1, 2024, the Eagle Pass Independent Board of Trustees could do one of four things under Section 11.060 of the Texas Education Code: first, if a vacancy occurs on the board of trustees of an independent school district, the remaining trustees may fill the vacancy by appointment until the next trustee election; second, if the board is appointed by the governing body of a municipality, a trustee appointed by the governing body of a municipality to fill a vacancy shall serve for the unexpired term; and fourth, if more than one year remains in the term of the position vacated, the vacancy shall be filled….not later than the 180th day after the date the vacancy occurs.
Diaz requests the Court to order the Eagle Pass Independent School District to open up the vacant Board of Trustee position of Lupita Fuentes for election in the next Board of Trustee election, that is, on November 5, 2024, and allow candidates to register for the vacant position before the candidate registration period on August 19, 2024.
The Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustees appointed Morris Libson, Jr. to the vacant Board of Trustee position of Lupita Fuentes on September 5, 2024 for the unexpired term remaining, that is, until November 2026. Libson was officially sworn-in on September 9, 2024 as a new Board of Trustee. The Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustees filled the vacancy within the 180 days allowed under the Texas Education Code.
The attorneys for the Eagle Pass Independent School District in their Original Answer and Plea to the Jurisdiction contend that Enriqueta Diaz does not have “the right to select for the Board of Trustees the method of filling the vacancy.”
The school district attorneys contend that “it is long established that, in case of a vacancy on the board of trustees of an independent school district, the remaining members of the board should fill the vacancy for the unexpired term, and such appointed trustee would serve for the balance of such term, or in other words, until the next trustee election for that position, rather than to the date of the next trustee election for any position.”
The Eagle Pass Independent School District attorneys conclude that since the Board of Trustees already appointed someone to fill the vacancy on the Board at their September 5, 2024 meeting within the 180 days allowed by state law, the petition for mandamus by Enriqueta Diaz is moot and should be denied. The school district also contends that since the candidate position period ended on August 19, 2024 and is now closed, the petition is moot because the Board of Trustees already appointed a substitute trustee on September 5, 2024. The Eagle Pass Independent School District is requesting that its attorney’s fees and court costs be awarded to the school district according to Section 11.61 of the Texas Education Code.
The case is scheduled to have a Court hearing on Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 4 p.m. in the 365th Judicial District Court in Eagle Pass, Maverick County, Texas. Results of the Court hearing were unavailable as of press time of this article.
