No Sovereign Immunity for the Texas Land Commissioner
Co-author Kelley Clark Morris
Suing a state and its public officials is difficult because of the doctrine of sovereign immunity. There are exceptions. State of Texas v. Signal Drilling, et al. presents several of them.
The rules
The State and its agencies are immune from:
Suits seeking to construe or enforce contracts to which the State is a party,
Declaratory judgment actions,
Ordinary trespass to try title suits.
There are exceptions. For example:
Claims against a state…