When December began and ended, Jason Corley was Lubbock County’s Precinct 2 commissioner.
For a few days in the middle of the month, Mark Meurer took Corley’s place.
Meurer now hopes the Texas Supreme Court will put him back on the Commissioners Court, which Corley doesn’t think will happen.
Meanwhile, Corley wants the county to pay his $12,000 in lawyer fees following last month’s legal battle over the Precinct 2 seat.
Meurer filed an emergency motion with the Texas Supreme Court.
His argument was, “Only emergency relief from this court will assist Meurer in regaining his statutory right … and allow him to stay in office pending his appeal.”
Timeline
Dec. 8: County Judge Curtis Parrish declared Jason Corley automatically resigned as commissioner by becoming a candidate for Congress with more than one year and 30 days left in his term of office, which LubbockLights.com covered here. Corley disputed it. That same morning, Parrish swore in Meurer as Corley’s replacement. Corley sued that same day. Days later the State of Texas, represented by Potter County Attorney Scott Brumley, intervened on Corley’s behalf.
Dec. 19: Visiting (retired) judge Patrick Pirtle ordered Corley be restored to office in a court hearing. Meurer’s attorney, Kristen LaFreniere, filed an appeal and a request for emergency action.
Dec. 22: The Seventh Court of Appeals in Amarillo denied the emergency request.
Dec. 22: Corley participated in a Commissioners Court meeting.
On Tuesday, the appeals court also published a notice saying Meurer needs to show he even has the right to file this specific kind of appeal (which is normally for government officials who are sued in their official capacity). Meurer has until January 20 to file something with the Seventh Court.
Pirtle wrote an email on Monday to LaFreniere and Brumley, directing them to proceed with the original court case in Lubbock. Corley’s attorney, Ben Garcia, was also copied.
“… The Seventh Court of Appeals has denied his [Meurer’s] request for temporary emergency relief. … Because this proceeding involves a matter of public interest requiring an expeditious resolution, I would also ask that you [Brumley] discuss with her [LaFreniere] a potential schedule for a final hearing. I look forward to hearing from both of you regarding this request,” the email said.
LaFreniere declined a chance to comment for LubbockLights.com.
Corley said, “I doubt the Supreme Court is going to rule any differently than what the appeals court has already ruled. … I think it’s a waste of taxpayer money at this point.”
He submitted $12,000 in legal bills to Lubbock County last week, anticipating his fellow commissioners will vote on it later this month.
Corley has no doubt commissioners will approve it – the same commissioners who expressed shock when Corley was escorted out of the courthouse, he said.
Corley also thinks the fight will drag on for a while.
“The Supreme Court of Texas stays pretty busy. I will be surprised if it makes it before the Supreme Court [for a final ruling], before the end of my term,” Corley said.
County Judge Curtis Parrish spoke briefly with LubbockLigthts.com. He said the facts of the case haven’t been explored yet. Right now, the battle is over legal procedures.
“I didn’t remove Jason Corley from office. In fact, you know, I had very little to do with him being removed from office. … The only thing I did – I appointed a suitable resident of the precinct because of the vacancy,” Parrish said.
“If you look at the constitution, it’s an automatic resignation,” Parrish said.
Previous court filings from Potter County Attorney Scott Brumley on behalf of the state said otherwise. Brumley’s writing in court records said Corley did not resign.
“Meurer is usurping, and is unlawfully holding and executing, the office of county commissioner,” Brumley wrote back in mid-December.
Kristen LaFreniere Credit: Pool camera in courtroom.
Emergency motion to the Texas Supreme Court
LaFreniere filed an emergency motion to the state’s highest court, saying, “The court of appeals’ decision … has already resulted in Meurer being unable to participate in one Commissioners’ Court meeting. Meurer respectfully requests this Court issues the stay before he is forced to miss more of his duties as an appointed County Commissioner.”
The next meeting is this coming Monday, January 12.
Click here to read the emergency request to the supreme court.
Glossary of words used in Corley/Meurer dispute
Mandamus – A court command to an official or another court.
Plea to the jurisdiction – This is a challenge to the trial court’s authority to hear a case, as explained by the Texas Supreme Court in 1999 in Bland ISD v Douglass Blue.
Quo warranto – Latin for “by what authority?” It’s used to test whether a person may lawfully hold office according to the Cornell Law School website.
To understand the appeal and the emergency motion, we need to explain some details.
When Corley first sued, Meurer challenged the lawsuit in something called a plea to the jurisdiction. In other words, did the court even have authority? Normally, only the Texas Attorney General, District Attorney, or County Attorney can file this kind of lawsuit – not an individual or even an elected official like Corley.
District Attorney Sunshine Stanek removed her office from the issue and Brumley was appointed to represent the State of Texas. Brumley filed something called quo warranto in favor of Corley.
Before the December 19 court hearing, it was Corley suing Meurer, and Brumley was just starting to get involved in support of Corley. As soon as the court hearing began, Meurer’s attorney, LaFreniere, asked Pirtle to toss out Corley’s request – for lacking the right to bring this kind of case. Pirtle said no and let Corley proceed.
LaFreniere filed an appeal right then in court from her laptop computer. Under the procedural rules, the case had to automatically “stay” or delay.
So, the judge changed his mind. Pirtle ruled Corley had no right to keep going, and only Brumley could argue in favor of the case. That’s what happened. Brumley called Corley and Parrish as witnesses and argued Corley was still rightfully the commissioner.
The following Monday, the appeals court notified everyone it would not grant a “stay” before the commissioners court meeting that morning.
That did not kill the appeal, but there would be no fast track. That brings us back to the emergency request in front of the Texas Supreme Court.
It said, “Specifically, Meurer seeks an emergency order from this Court directing the trial court and the appellate court to stay … a temporary injunction that removed Meurer from his position as Lubbock County Commissioner and replaced him with another individual.”
Meurer appeal rejected by Seventh Circuit, Corley remains Precinct 2 commissioner
December 22, 2025
Update – Corley restored, Meurer out by temporary court order but case moves to appeals court
December 19, 2025
December 16, 2025
December 12, 2025
December 10, 2025
December 9, 2025
December 8, 2025
One-two punch
LaFreniere actually filed two things on Meurer’s behalf to the Texas Supreme Court – an emergency motion and a petition for mandamus. In simple terms, she wants the Supreme Court to command the appeals court and the trial court to put Meurer back in office for Precinct 2.
“The court entered an injunction removing an officeholder from office, installing another, all in an oral pronouncement …” said her petition.
“The trial court’s overruling of Meurer’s objections … violated his constitutional rights to due process, binding caselaw from this Court, the rules of civil procedure, and the statutory stay …” LaFreniere also wrote.
“It also sets a dangerous precedent that office holders can be removed from office without appellate remedies that are provided to them by statute and that others can be placed into office by judicial fiat with essentially no appellate review in the meantime,” her petition said.
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