In The Court of Appeals Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-15-00096-CR

IN RE MILTON EDWARD GRIGGS

Original Mandamus Proceeding

Before Morriss, C.J., Moseley and Burgess, JJ.

Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Morriss MEMORANDUM OPINION Milton Edward Griggs is currently serving a 300-day sentence for failure to identify himself while being a fugitive from justice. Unfortunately, Griggs’ wife recently passed away and was allegedly cremated without his or his family’s knowledge. In order to see to the preservation and distribution of her estate and other post-funeral matters, Griggs asks this Court to order the Hunt County Jail or Sheriff Randy Meeks to grant him an emergency furlough from confinement in the Hunt County Jail. We interpret Griggs’ pleading as a petition for a writ of mandamus and dismiss the petition for want of jurisdiction.

Texas courts of appeals have been granted limited original jurisdiction. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 22.221 (West 2004). This Court lacks jurisdiction to grant a petition for a writ of mandamus against the Hunt County Jail or the Hunt County Sheriff unless the issuance of a writ of mandamus against him is necessary to enforce our jurisdiction. See Silva v. Klevenhagen, 833 S.W.2d 746, 747 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, orig. proceeding). No such allegation has been made in this case.

Accordingly, we dismiss the petition for want of jurisdiction.

Josh R. Morriss, III Chief Justice Date Submitted: June 9, 2015 Date Decided: June 10, 2015

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