Mauricio Celis, a South Texan accused of practicing law without a license in a noisy case that's splashed several political figures, wants to move his case from Corpus Christi to Austin.

His lawyer (Austin's Steve McConnico) says two cases already filed in Austin cover the same ground as a lawsuit in Nueces County.

Celis and his lawyers say he's authorized to practice law in Mexico and that he hasn't broken any laws restricting who gets to be a lawyer and who doesn't.

Celis' legal troubles began this fall and quickly got into the political pool: He's given to a number of local politicos in state and federal offices, and he's close to then-U.S. Senate candidate Mikal Watts. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is suing him, too, in one of the Travis County suits cited in the motion for a change of venue. In fact, Abbott sued in Austin before the locals moved in Corpus. Jason Stanford, a consultant who worked for Watts and, last year, for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell, is handling media calls for Celis.

Elsa Murano will be the next president of Texas A&M University, after being named the sole finalist for that job. She is currently vice chancellor of the Texas A&M University System and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the main campus in College Station. She'll be the first woman in that post, and the first Hispanic.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed former Dallas City Manager Richard Knight Jr. to the board of regents at Texas Southern University in Houston. Knight is the managing partner of Pegasus Texas Holdings LLC.

Perry named Texas Tech University professor Juan Sanchez Muñoz of Lubbock to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Muñoz, who's also assistant to the president at Tech, is commissioner of the Lubbock Housing Authority.

And there are three new appointees on the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, which oversees the prison system: Eric Gambrell, a lawyer from Highland Park; R. Terrell McCombs, vice president of McCombs Enterprises in San Antonio; and Janice Harris Lord of Arlington, a social worker and consultant on crime victim issues.

A reorganization at the Texas Education Agency makes Ray Glynn the acting deputy commission (one of three) for school district leadership and educator quality. Barbara Knaggs and Shirley Beaulieu got promoted to associate commissioner jobs. And three become deputy associate commissioners: Gloria Zyskowski, Lisa Dawn-Fisher, and Laura Taylor. All six were in other jobs at TEA before the moves.

David Quin is leaving the Texas Senate after 13 years as a staffer there, most recently as legislative director to Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas. Quin got a management gig with the Conference of Urban Counties. Graham Keever, now the director of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee, will take Quin's spot with West.

ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas) has three new board members: Bob Helton of International Power America Services; Robert Thomas of Green Mountain Energy; and Charles Jenkins of Oncor.

A plug: John Young, political columnist for the Waco Tribune-Herald, has a book of collected columns out. You can get Ghosts of Liberals Past at the front desk of the paper (that's old school) or by ordering it on Amazon (that's new school).

Deaths: Elspeth Rostow, former dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas and a formal and informal advisor to presidents, governors and other public officials here and in Washington, D.C. She was 90.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle -- the prosecutor who handles cases involving state officials -- won't seek reelection next year.His statement: "I want to thank the people of Travis County for entrusting me with the responsibility of this office to see that justice is done. At the end of my term we will have had a 32-year partnership, because doing justice is the job of the community itself. "If a candidate for district attorney comes forward whose election would in my judgment best serve the interests of this community I will be free to make my opinion known. "I can only say that I have learned from my service over the decades that the first, last, and most important responsibility of the district attorney is to put the interests of the children first. "As long as that can be done, I am confident that the district attorney will be fully capable of sorting out everything and anything else that needs to occur in order to see that justice is done. That's because the bottom line of this job is that if it doesn't lead toward justice for the children, it is not justice at all. "This has been for me the best job in the world and I am grateful to the voters of Travis County for this rich and wonderful opportunity and these experiences for all these years. "I want to thank my splendid staff, and especially First Assistant District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, for making the success of this office over these decades possible. "There are particular cases pending that are enormously important to this State, this country, and democracy itself. If they are not resolved during the forthcoming last year of my term I will offer my assistance on those matters on a pro bono basis to my successor. "I look forward to whatever the future may bring. "I have no specific plans, other than to not go gently into that good night."