Unreported / Non-Citable
Background
David J. Alarid filed an original mandamus proceeding asking the Texas Sixth Court of Appeals to compel Judge R. Wesley Tidwell of the Sixth Judicial District Court of Lamar County to take certain actions. Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 52.3 and 52.7 required Alarid to support his petition with certified or sworn copies of the material documents and relevant trial-court orders.
Alarid attempted to authenticate his appendix and supplemental record through purported unsworn declarations under Section 132.001 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. The declarations stated that he was outside the United States, but their signature blocks supplied a Texas address rather than his location of execution outside the country.
The Court’s Holding
The court held that Alarid’s declarations did not substantially comply with Section 132.001(d). The statutory form requires a jurat identifying the county and state where the declaration was executed, and Alarid neither provided his true location of execution nor cited authority allowing an unsworn declaration under Section 132.001 to be executed outside the United States.
Because the defective declarations did not properly authenticate the documents in Alarid’s appendix, he failed to provide the record required by the appellate rules. The court therefore denied his petition for a writ of mandamus and overruled his emergency motion to preserve the status quo as moot.
Key Takeaways
- A mandamus relator must submit certified or sworn copies of every document material to the requested relief.
- An unsworn declaration under Section 132.001 must substantially follow the statutory jurat form, including the required place of execution.
- A statement that the declarant is abroad, paired with a jurat that does not identify the true foreign location of execution, does not properly authenticate an appellate record under the provisions applied here.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that mandamus relief depends on a procedurally sufficient record. Even when a relator invokes an unsworn declaration instead of a notarized affidavit, the declaration must substantially satisfy the governing statute before it can authenticate documents required by the appellate rules.