Chapter 22-4 Mandatory Venue Options

• Jurisdiction: United States

22-4 Mandatory Venue Options

Although the Texas Supreme Court has said that a plaintiff is entitled to choose between two counties of proper venue and it is reversible error to overrule the plaintiff's choice by transferring venue to another county of proper venue,⁴⁰ it is unclear whether this principle is necessarily applicable when choosing between mandatory venue provisions.

Some of the more commonly invoked mandatory venue provisions include those relating to:

• Land cases: Actions relating to an interest in real property shall be brought in the county in which all or a part of the property is located.⁴¹
• Landlord-tenant cases: Except as provided by another statute prescribing mandatory venue, a suit between a landlord and a tenant arising under a lease shall be brought in the county in which all or a part of the real property is located.⁴²
• Mandamus against state government: An action for mandamus against the head of a department of the state government shall be brought in Travis County.⁴³
• Suit against county: An action against a county shall be brought in that county.⁴⁴
• Suit against small county political subdivision: Except as provided by a law not contained in this chapter, an action against a political subdivision that is located in a county with a population of 100,000 or less shall be brought in the county in which the political subdivision is located.⁴⁵
• Libel, slander or invasion of privacy: A suit for damages for libel, slander, or invasion of privacy shall be brought in the county in which the plaintiff resided at the time of the accrual of the cause of action, or in the county in which the defendant resided at the time of filing suit, or in the county of the residence of defendants, or any of them, or the domicile of any corporate defendant, at the election of the plaintiff.⁴⁶
• Major transaction: An action arising from a major transaction shall be brought in a specified county if the party against whom the action is brought has agreed in writing that a suit arising from the transaction may be brought in that county.⁴⁷
• Injunction: Except to stay proceedings in a suit or execution on a judgment, a writ of injunction against a party who is a resident of this state shall be tried in a district or county court in the county in which the party is domiciled.⁴⁸
• Texas Tort Claims Act: A suit under this chapter shall be brought in state court in the county in which the cause of action or a part of the cause of action arises.⁴⁹
• Arbitration: An application to enforce arbitration shall be filed in counties specified by agreement.⁵⁰

When the same mandatory venue provision could support venue in more than one county, the plaintiff's venue decision between two counties of proper venue is determinative, and it constitutes reversible error for the trial court to transfer venue to the other county.⁵¹

But what happens when more than one mandatory venue provision could apply to a case, and the defendant challenges the plaintiff's pleading of venue with an...