Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 2/16/07
The Texas Supreme Court issued a short set of orders today that included opinions in two cases against Dallas County consolidated for oral argument.
In Dallas County v. Wiland, the Court held that deputy constables who had been dismissed without a hearing were protected by civil service rules and could not be fired without cause, were denied procedural due process, were entitled to damages unless cause existed to fire them, and were not entitled to substantive due process. Justice Brister, joined by three others, concurred and dissented in part.
The Court reached the same result in the companion case, Dallas County v. Walton, even though the deputy constable had signed a statement that his service was at-will and would terminate when the constable's term expired. The same group of justices concurred.
