2021-W-0296 § IN THE 379th DISTRICT COURT 8 EX PARTE JANIE VILLEDA OF § § § § § BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS Order Granting the Habeas Corpus Relief Requested by Applicant BE IT REMEMBERED that upon this date came Applicant, JANIE VILLEDA, who, pursuant to Tex. Crim. P. Code Art. 11.05 & TeX. Const. Art. 1, § 12, has applied for certain habeas corpus relief, and after due consideration of her application, this Court hereby enters and acknowledges the following: I. Procedural History. 1. Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order on March 29, 2020 [“EO-GA-13”] that purports to suspend various laws codified in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. 2. Applicant challenged the constitutionality of EO-GA-13 in an application she filed on June 18, 2021. 3. The State stipulated to certain evidentiary matters at a hearing conducted on June 23, 2021. 4. Applicant filed a supplemental brief in support of her application on June 24, 2021. 5. Applicant filed a form specified by the Office of Court Administration on June 25, 2021. Forty-five days have since passed.The Court also notified the Attorney General. Il. Findings of Fact. On June 25, 2019, Applicant pleaded “no contest” to a misdemeanor assault and was fined $300 and placed on deferred adjudication community supervision. On January 28, 2021, the trial court revoked applicant's community supervision, adjudicated her guilty, and pronounced sentence at a $2,000 fine and one [1] year in the Bexar County Jail. On June 23, 2021, the State stipulated that, but for EO-GA-13, Applicant has indeed accumulated sufficient calendar days and “good time” credit to satisfy her judgment in full The State lodged no objections to the instant application. TIL. Conclusions of Law. This court has jurisdiction over this matter by virtue of Article 11.05 of the Texas Criminal Procedure Code. Though currently released on bond, Applicant remains restrained in this case, solely due to EO-GA-13. The Court concludes the Governor lacks authority under the Texas Disaster Act, or any other law, to suspend articles within the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure; such laws are not regulatory statutes affecting state business. Neither the operation of a county’s criminal court system, nor a local Sheriff's management of a county jail, is a state business governed by executive regulation. Given EO-GA-13 purports to exercise a power that the Disaster Act does not provide, EO-GA-13 is ultra vires and unenforceable. ‘As an additional adequate and independent basis for this ruling, this Court further concludes that, by purporting to suspend laws codified in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, EO-GA-13 violates Article I, Section 28 of the Texas Constitution, which provides that only the Texas legislature may suspend our state’s laws, not the Governor.‘As yet an additional adequate and independent ground for this ruling, this Court also concludes that, by purporting to suspend laws codified in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, EO-GA-13 violates Article Il, Section | of the Texas Constitution, as it encroaches on powers that are endemic exclusively to the Legislature. That is, given the Texas Legislature has the exclusive authority to define criminal procedure via its statutes — subject to interpretation by the Judiciary and limited by the Texas Constitution — Article II, Section I prevents the Governor from suspending articles of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. For these reasons, this Court concludes that EO-GA-13 is wholly unconstitutional and is thus unenforceable. Il. Order. The habeas corpus relief Applicant requests is hereby GRANTED, and therefore Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar is ORDERED to discharge Applicant if, in the Sheriff's discretion, Applicant has accrued sufficient credit from all sources to satisfy her judgment. SIGNED and ENTERED on & h HON. JUDGE RON RANGEL 379" JUDICIAL DISTRICT BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS.