At the Court ’s re qu e st, the UI Lfi le d a re sp on se in opp os iti on to TA SO’ s pet iti on fo r w ri t 1 of injunction and motion for eme rg ency relief
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### TEXA S C OU R T OF A PPEAL S, THIR D DIST R ICT , AT AU STIN

NO. 03-10 -00 029 -CV

In r e Te xa s A sso c iat ion of Spo r ts Offic ial s

ORI GINAL PRO CEEDING FRO M TRAVIS CO UNTY

M E M O R

A N D U M O P I N I O N
Relator Te x as Association of Sports Officials (“ TASO”) f iled a petition for writ of injunction and motion for emer g ency temporar y relief , seeking to e x tend the temporar y restra ining
or de r i n p la c e in the tr ia l court duri ng the pe nd e nc y of a n inte rl oc uto ry a pp e a l file d b y

the re a l pa

rt y in interest, the Univer sity I nterschola stic L eague (“ the UI L ”). 1 TASO filed suit ag ainst the UI L , seeking decla ratory and injunctive relief prohibiting the UI L fr om i mpl e me nti ngits pla n to be g in r e g ulatin g the of fi c ia tin g of

hig h s c ho ol v a rs ity

sp or ts in Texas. On J anuar

y 13, 2010, the trial court held a hear ing on TASO’s applica tion for a tempor ary restra ining or der a

nd, afte r hea

ring argumen t fr o m b o th parties, g rante d the tempora ry restra ining
or de r. Th e te mpo ra

ry re str a ini ngor de r w a s se t to e xpir e on Janu a ry 27 , b ut w a s late r e xten de d to Fe bruar y 10 by ag ree ment of the pa

rties.2 O n J a n u a r

y 2 2 , t h e U IL f

i l e d a p l e a t o t h e j u r i s d i c t i o n a s s e rt i n g s o v e r e i g n i m m u n i t y, wh ic h t h e t r i a l c o u rt d e n i e d
. T h e U I L t h e n f i l e d a n o t i c e o f i n t e r l o c u t o r y a p p e a l pu rs ua nt t o section 51.014 of the c ivil practice and re medies code
. See Tex. Ci v . P ra c. & R em . Code Ann. § 5 1. 01 4( a )( 8) (We st 2 00 8) (a llo wi ngint e rl oc uto ry a pp eal s f ro m or de rs de nyingple a to j u r i s d i c t i o n f

i l e d b y g o v e r

n m e n t a l u n i t )
. A n i n t e r l o c u t o r y a p p e a l u n d e r

s e c t i o n 5 1
. 0 1 4 ( a ) ( 8 ) “ s t a ys all other proc eeding s in t h e t ri al co u rt pending resolution of that appe al.” Id. § 51.014(b). That appea l is curre ntly

pending in this C ourt as ca use number 03- 10-00030-CV. Acc ording to TASO, the stay trig g ere d by

the UI L ’s interlocutory

appea l preve nts the trial court f

rom extending the temporar y restra ining or der, so that onc e the or der e x pires on F ebrua ry 10, 2010, the UI Lwill be fre e to implement its plan to reg ulate sport s o ff icials, there by

rende ring moot the underlying suit and the UI L ’s appe al. TASO see ks a writ of injunction incorporating the terms of the te mporary

restra ining or der c urre ntly in place, pe nding r esolution of th e UI L ’s int e rl oc uto ry

a pp e a l. This Court has authority

to issue writs of injunction if nece ssary to enforc e its own jurisdiction. See Tex. Gov’t C ode Ann. § 22.221(a) (West 2004) (“Eac h court of appea ls . . . may issue a wr it of mandamus and a ll ot h er wr its necessa ry to enforc e the jurisdiction of the c ourt.”). Th is a uth or ity e xten ds to t

he iss ua nc e of wr its ne c e ssa

ry to p re se rv e the su

bje c t matte r o f a

n a pp e a l. See B eall v. Strake , 602 S.W .2d 394, 395 (Tex. Civ. App.—Austin 1980, orig . proce eding ) (holding that court of a

ppeals may

issue writ of injunction i f l ack of injunction would “destroy the subject matter of the appea l, and there by preve nt t h e effective ope ration of a ny judgme nt this C ourt might re nder” ).3 Her e, the subjec t matte r of the appea l is the independent status of TA SO, as an org anization r eg ulating sports officia ls in Texas. Acc ording to T ASO, if the UI L implements its pl an to regulate the profe ssion, including requiring all sports officia ls to reg ister wit h and pay fee s to the UI Lin o r d e r to o f f ic iate v a r s it

y g a me s , T A SO w il l c e a s e to e xis t a s an in d e p e n d e n t r eg ulatory
or g a nizatio n. Furt he rm or e , a s T ASO po int s o ut, sp or tin ge ve nts a t w hic h T ASO of fi c ia ls s e e k to officiate will have a lrea dy occur red. In order

to officiate at these e vents, T AS O m em bers will be forc ed to sub m i t t o t h e UI L ’s re g ulatory authority , the authority being challeng ed in the underlying suit.

We ag ree that the terms of the temporar y restra ining or der must re main in effe ct pendin g re s o l ution of the UI L ’s interlocutory appea l in order to pre serve the subject matter of the underlying suit and e nforc e our jurisdiction over the interlocutory

appea l. The pe tition for writ of injunction is hereby

g rante d. I t is the order of this Court that pending the disposition of the appea l in cause numbe r 03 -1 0- 00 03 0- CV or

fu rt he r o rd e r o f t

his Court , th e UI Land

any pe rs on s o r e nti tie s a c tin g in
c on ne c tio n h e re wi th a

re e njo ine d f

ro m ( 1) e nf

or c ing , im

ple me nti ng , o r tak ingany a c tio n to eff ectuate the adoption of the November 6, 2009 chang es to the UI L ’s Rule 1204, with the exception of any further meeting of the leg islative counsel to re vise or ame nd the rule; (2) taking any action seekingto compel, coe rce or enc ourag e any person not to re g ister with TASO as a sports officia l or to reg ister with the UI Lin lieu of reg istering wi t h T AS O as a sports off icial; and (3) char g ing or collecting any

fee , tax, or other reve nue dire ctly from any curr ent TASO sports offic ial as a c ondition of eng ag ing in the of

ficiating profe ssion. The Clerk of this Cou rt i s d i re cted to issue the wr it of4

injunction. No bond is re quired as a condition to the issuance of this inj unction, as the $100 bond deeme d sufficie nt by

the trial cour

t in gr anting the tempora

ry restra ining or der r emains in eff ect.

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________ Diane M. H enson, Jus tice Be fore J ustices Patterson, Pury ear and He nson Filed: F ebrua

ry 5, 2010