In Re Devon Barry v. the State of Texas
CourtTexas Court of Appeals, 13th District
Date FiledJune 18, 2026
Docket13-26-00484-CV
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
NUMBER 13-26-00484-CV
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG
IN RE DEVON BARRY
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Chief Justice Tijerina and Justices Silva and Cron
Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Tijerina1
By pro se petition for writ of mandamus, relator Devon Barry seeks to compel
Steven McCraw, the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, to correct
information in the Texas Sex Offender Registry and the National Crime Information
Center concerning relator’s duty to register. The petition for writ of mandamus arises from
trial court cause number D-1-GN-24-002223 in the 261st District Court of Travis County,
1 See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.8(d) (“When denying relief, the court may hand down an opinion but is not
required to do so. When granting relief, the court must hand down an opinion as in any other case.”); id. R.
47.4 (distinguishing opinions and memorandum opinions).
Texas. Relator filed a direct appeal from that cause number to the Third Court of Appeals,
and the appeal was transferred to this Court by the Supreme Court of Texas in
accordance with its docket equalization efforts. See TEX. GOV’T CODE § 73.001; Misc.
Docket No. 26-9021 (Tex. Mar. 27, 2026).
Article V, § 6 of the Texas Constitution delineates the appellate jurisdiction of the
courts of appeals, and states that the courts of appeals “shall have such other jurisdiction,
original and appellate, as may be prescribed by law.” TEX. CONST. art. V, § 6(a). Section
22.221 of the Texas Government Code provides the main source of original jurisdiction
for the intermediate courts of appeals. See TEX. GOV’T CODE § 22.221; In re Cook, 394
S.W.3d 668, 671 (Tex. App.—Tyler 2012, orig. proceeding). In pertinent part, this section
provides that an intermediate appellate court may issue a writ of mandamus against
specified judges in its district and “all other writs necessary to enforce the jurisdiction of
the court.” TEX. GOV’T CODE § 22.221(a), (b), (c).
The Court, having examined and fully considered the petition for writ of mandamus
and the limited record provided, is of the opinion that we lack jurisdiction over this original
proceeding. First, our mandamus jurisdiction does not extend to state officials, and relator
has not established that mandamus is necessary to enforce this Court’s appellate
jurisdiction. See id. § 22.221(a), (b), (c); In re McClairne, No. 14-26-00562-CV, 2026 WL
1691241, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] June 11, 2026, orig. proceeding) (per
curiam) (mem. op.); In re Arabzadegan, No. 03-26-00233-CV, 2026 WL 679464, at *1
(Tex. App.—Austin Mar. 11, 2026, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.); In re Jackson, No. 01-
25-00069-CR, 2025 WL 554197, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Feb. 20, 2025,
orig. proceeding) (per curiam) (mem. op.). Second, relator’s appeal in our appellate cause
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number 13-26-00401-CV was transferred to this Court from the Third Court of Appeals by
the Supreme Court of Texas, and that transfer did not carry with it any jurisdiction to issue
a writ of mandamus in a separate original proceeding. See Misc. Docket No. 26-9021
(Tex. Mar. 27, 2026) (“It is specifically provided that the cases ordered transferred by this
order shall not include . . . original proceedings.”); In re Gragg, No. 13-25-00594-CV, 2025
WL 3170978, at *1 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi–Edinburg Nov. 12, 2025, orig. proceeding)
(mem. op.); In re Cortez, No. 07-24-00096-CR, 2024 WL 1226160, at *1 (Tex. App.—
Amarillo Mar. 21, 2024, orig. proceeding) (per curiam) (mem. op.); In re Doggett, No. 06-
19-00081-CV, 2019 WL 4132505, at *1 (Tex. App.—Texarkana Aug. 30, 2019, orig.
proceeding) (mem. op.). Accordingly, we dismiss the petition for writ of mandamus for
want of jurisdiction.
JAIME TIJERINA
Chief Justice
Delivered and filed on the
18th day of June, 2026.
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