15th Court of Appeals dismisses Texas AG’s appeal in Project Connect lawsuit

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The 15th Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal from the Texas Office of the Attorney General that extended from ongoing legal challenges against the funding structure behind the Project Connect mass transit system.

Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an interlocutory appeal June 17, on the same day a trial centered around the validity of Project Connect’s funding structure was set to begin. The attorney general’s initial claim argued the Austin Transit Partnership — the organization tasked with designing and constructing the Project Connect light rail system — didn’t have the jurisdiction to bring forth a bond validation lawsuit, filed in February.

In Paxton’s interlocutory appeal filing, he said the 53rd District Court — the court where the trial originated — didn’t have the “jurisdiction under the [Expedited Declaratory Judgment Act] to consider the subject matter” of a separate suit filed by taxpayers against the Project Connect system last November.

Those two suits were consolidated into a joint trial, called together on March 18 and resumed on June 17. Paxton argued that by the trial resuming in June, the 53rd District Court “had implicitly denied the Attorney General’s pending plea to the jurisdiction,” the 15th Court of Appeals’ documents read. Those documents added the trial court “explicitly declined to rule on the plea, instead announcing its intent to take the plea under advisement and proceed to trial.”

The 15th Court of Appeals dismissed Paxton’s appeal, citing “lack of jurisdiction.” The case was originally punted from the trial court to the Third Court of Appeals before landing in the 15th Court of Appeals, which began operating Sept. 1.

The 15th Court of Appeals’ full response is available below.

KXAN reached out to Paxton’s office for comment regarding the dismissal. We will update this story if we receive a response.

Casey Burack, executive vice president of business and legal affairs for ATP, said in a statement to KXAN Wednesday they support the court’s decision, adding they look forward to advancing with the original trial proceedings.

“Austin Transit Partnership and the City of Austin filed bond validation proceedings so that we could have an impartial judge confirm that we have complied with state law at every step in moving Project Connect forward,” Burack said in part. “We appreciate that the 15th Court of Appeals has acted quickly to dismiss the Attorney General’s meritless appeal of its baseless jurisdictional challenge, and look forward to our day in court. ATP will continue to advance Austin Light Rail with our community.”

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson also commended the court’s determination, criticizing Paxton’s appeal as a “blatant delay tactic.”

The decision by the Fifteenth Court of Appeals exposes Ken Paxton’s jurisdictional challenge as a blatant delay tactic. I want this case to go to trial because the facts and the law are on our side, which is exactly why Ken Paxton wants to keep it tangled up in the legal weeds.

It will speak volumes about the strength of Ken Paxton’s argument if he continues to stall a decision by appealing to the Texas Supreme Court.

Let’s go to trial.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson

KXAN has a complete breakdown of the lawsuits filed against ATP and arguments made by all parties involved online .

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