Full Opinion

In The Court of Appeals Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont __________________ NO. 09-26-00385-CV __________________ IN RE JUSTIN TOLAR __________________________________________________________________ Original Proceeding 1A District Court of Newton County, Texas __________________________________________________________________ MEMORANDUM OPINION Justin Tolar filed a petition for a writ of mandamus to compel the Judge of the 1A District Court of Newton County, Texas to notify the Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that records the Department maintains regarding Tolar are inaccurate. Tolar states that he has never been arrested or charged in Newton County, yet the Department’s record of Tolar’s criminal history includes a notation that, according to Tolar, falsely “reflects [he] was arrested and charged with sexual assault and it was dismissed.” A grievance Tolar included in the appendix to the mandamus petition includes a statement from Tolar that, “I have never even been to 1 Newton County TX. Never had any charges in Newton County.” The administrative response to Tolar’s grievance suggests the Newton County District Attorney “would most likely have to get records corrected.” We may issue a writ of mandamus against a judge of a district court in the court of appeals district. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221(b). “Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy that will issue only to correct a clear abuse of discretion or the violation of a duty imposed by law when there is no adequate remedy available by law.” In re State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 629 S.W.3d 866, 872 (Tex. 2021) (orig. proceeding) (internal quotations omitted). From the mandamus record, it appears Tolar is not and has never been a party to any litigation in the 1A District Court of Newton County. He has failed to show that the judge of the 1A District Court has a ministerial duty to notify the Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that the Department’s records are inaccurate. Accordingly, we deny the petition for a writ of mandamus. PETITION DENIED. PER CURIAM Submitted on October 7, 2026 Opinion Delivered October 8, 2026 Before Johnson, Wright and Chambers, JJ. 2