Mitchell Energy Corporation, Relator v. Honorable Clyde R. Ashworth, and the Honorable Catherine Adamski Gant…

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court held that under Texas Government Code §74.053(d) a judge’s status as a "former judge who was not a retired judge" is fixed at the time the judge leaves office, not when the judge is assigned. Accordingly, the presiding judge abused discretion by refusing to sustain the relator’s objection to Judge Gant, and the petition for mandamus was conditionally granted.