Catalina Development, Inc. v. County of El Paso

in which Chief Justice PHILLIPS, Justice HECHT, Justice OWEN, Justice JEFFERSON, Justice SCHNEIDER, Justice SMITH, and Justice WAINWRIGHT joined.

Once again, we are called upon to consider a waiver-by-conduct exception to the sovereign-immunity rule. In this case, a county solicited bids for purchasing a parcel of land, accepted the highest bid, deposited the tendered earnest money, and sent the purported buyer a warranty deed and affidavit to be used to close the transaction. The county delayed authorization to sign the deed, however, and a newly elected commissioners court refused to approve…