Employees Retirement System of Texas v. Duenez

Strange as it may seem, a state agency has sued itself to have its own jurisdiction declared exclusive, then moved to dismiss its action for want of jurisdiction, and now complains that the trial court denied its motion. To be clear: the agency does not contend that it should have won a declaratory judgment; it contends that its motion to dismiss its own action should have been granted. One may ask: why doesn’t the agency simply take a nonsuit? If the agency is trying to obtain judicial approval of its claim of exclusive jurisdiction, the plan has backfired: the court of appeals held against…