Graves v. Crain, No. (Tex.App.- Austin, Mar. 20, 2008)( )(criminal law issue) (Before Justices Puryear, Waldrop and Henson)

Rickie Lynn Graves v. Christina Melton Crain, Chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice; Gary Johnson, Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Doug Dretke, Director, T.D.C.J. - Institutional Division; David P. Weeks, Chief Prosecutor; et al.
Appeal from 98th District Court of Travis County

In 1998, appellant Rickie Lynn Graves was convicted of possession of a controlled substance while in a correctional facility and was sentenced to fifty years' imprisonment. In 2004, Graves filed a petition seeking a declaratory judgment that the "special prison prosecution unit" through which Graves was prosecuted in 1998 was unconstitutional and that his 1998 conviction was void. (3) Appellees filed a motion to dismiss arguing that Graves's suit was an attack on his final conviction, which is governed by article 11.07 of the code of criminal procedure; limitations had run on Graves's claims; Graves failed to state a claim under 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 ("section 1983"); appellees were entitled to qualified immunity from any claims under section 1983; appellees were not liable under section 1983 in their official or supervisory capacities; and there was no justiciable issue presented that the trial court had the power to resolve. Graves responded that the legislature did not authorize the special prison prosecution unit to act as it has since its creation and that the unit as operated was a judicial office and thus a violation of the separation of powers doctrine. He asserted that the Texas Constitution delegates the authority to conduct criminal prosecutions to county and district attorneys and that the multi-county jurisdiction exercised by the unit violated those constitutional provisions. Graves stated that he was not challenging his conviction but instead was contesting the legality of the unit's existence and operation. The trial court interpreted appellees' motion to dismiss as a plea to the jurisdiction and granted the motion, dismissing the suit for lack of jurisdiction.

Because Graves sought relief from a final felony conviction from a court that lacked jurisdiction over the issue, (4) the trial court did not err in dismissing the suit for lack of jurisdiction. We affirm the trial court's order of dismissal.