Complaint Form

Notice of Complaint Form

All Election Board appeals are filed as complaints.

All complaints are initiated via a "Complaint Filing Form." This form is not the place to state your case. It is simply to cite the violation and ask for a remedy.

There are two ways to submit a complaint to the Supreme Court.

Option 1 - Short Form: If after reading the "Notice of Complaint Example" you feel you can effectively provide the court with all the information it needs without assistance, please prepare the documents and email them to sgsupremecourt@txstate.edu. In the email, please note if you feel you would like a student to serve as counsel on your behalf.

An example of the proper format can be found here:

Notice of Complaint Example (with notes about how to complete)
Notice of Complaint Template (pre-formatted and editable)

In addition, you can provide the court with brief facts of the case from your perspective or facts you think are relevant.

If you need emergency action and want the court to stop something specific from happening before a hearing can be scheduled, please also send an Injunction Request.


Option 2 - Long Form: If after reading the "Notice of Complaint Example" you feel you will need assistance, please complete the form below and submit the form. A Public Counselor from the Public Counsels Office will prepare the document for you if need be. If you have any problems completing the form or have questions, feel free to email sgsupremecourt@txstate.edu

Note: There are seven sections to this form, each with their own instructions.


Injunction Request

In some cases time may be short or a pending decision by another part of Student Government may have a negative effect on you or the organization. In these cases the Supreme Court is empowered to stop these pending actions.

Often times this applies to Election Board Orders and other kinds of sanctions. You can request the court stop anything that you think will harm you, the organization, the student body or your pending case.

Take a few moments to tell the court if you need an emergency stop order (injunction).


Name of Respondent(s)

Please provide the name or names and titles of the person(s) you believe have violated the Constitution or Student Government Code.

Statement of Complaint

Please provide a short introduction and summary of the case from your point of view. Keep it brief.


Statement of Pursuance

This section cites the specific part of the Student Government Constitution or Student Government Code which you, the filer, believe has been violated or incorrectly executed.

Please provide the specific citation of the constitution or code. If you can’t find the specific text feel free to note that in this section and the Judicial Advocate will try and find it.

You can find the Student Government Constitution, here.

You can find the Student Government Code, here.

When using the documents above its helpful to use  "CTRL+F" keys in combination to search the texts for key words that might help you.


Standing

In order to have your case heard you must prove you have standing with the court. You prove standing by demonstrating two things: 1) that you have a case based on some jurisdiction relevant to the Supreme Court and 2) that you specifically are being harmed by a case or controversy.

In this section, you will have two options to select from depending on what kind of case you are filing. This selection determines the first part of the two-part question of standing.

Option 1: You are filing an appeal of a decision by the Election Board.

Option 2: You are filing a complaint because of a violation of the Student Government Consitution or Student Government Code or because of a conflict between components of the Student Government.

Statement of Standing


Cause of Action

Provide a summary of the actions and harm which have led to this filing. Answer questions like who was involved, when did the action occur, where did this occur.


Request for Relief

Provide the court with the specific kind of remedy or relief you are requesting. Make sure your request is reasonable.


Case Brief

The Notice of Complain you are about to complete is designed as a cover letter for a case brief. It’s the official request for a hearing. A Case Brief provides all the details of the case, and provides the filer with the opportunity to make their case in writing and provide evidence. The Case Brief is not required but highly recommended. You can find an example of one at the top of this page.

In the space below please either attach a word document with what you’d like to have on the brief or type in the space provided. Please keep the brief to 8 pages or less.

If you don't want to use the space provided you can type the Brief in MS Word and attach it.


Final Questions

There are a few more questions to answer before submitting the Notice of Complaint.

Oath of Affirmation of Truth *