Bexar Appraisal District v. Lucifer Lighting Company

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: December 17, 2021
• Docket: 04-21-00509-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

FILE COPY

Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas December 17, 2021

No. 04-21-00509-CV

BEXAR APPRAISAL DISTRICT, Appellants

v.

LUCIFER LIGHTING COMPANY, Appellee

From the 37th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2021-CI-09696 Honorable Norma Gonzales, Judge Presiding

ORDER On October 8, 2021, the trial court signed an order denying appellant Bexar Appraisal District’s plea to the jurisdiction. An appeal from an interlocutory order that denies a plea to the jurisdiction is an accelerated appeal. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 51.014(a)(8); TEX. R. APP. P. 28.1(a). Therefore, Bexar Appraisal District’s notice of appeal was due within twenty days after the order was signed, which was October 28, 2021. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(b), 28.1(b). However, Bexar Appraisal District did not file its notice of appeal until November 15, 2021. The clerk’s record shows that Bexar Appraisal District filed a motion in the trial court to extend appellate timetables pursuant to Rule 306a.5 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 306a.5; TEX. R. APP. P. 4.2. However, the clerk’s record does not include a written order finding the date that Bexar Appraisal District received notice or acquired actual notice that the order denying its plea to the jurisdiction was signed. See PDG, Inc. v. Abilene Vill., LLC, 07-19-00118-CV, 2019 WL 1716785, at *1 (Tex. App.—Amarillo Apr. 17, 2019, order) (To gain additional time under Rule 306a.4 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, “a party must file a sworn motion in compliance with Rule of Civil Procedure 306a.5 and obtain a written order that finds the date when the party or the party’s attorney first received notice or acquired actual knowledge that the judgment was signed.”). Without a written order finding the date Bexar Appraisal District received notice or acquired actual knowledge that the trial court signed the plea to the jurisdiction order, it appears that the notice of appeal is untimely and this court lacks jurisdiction over the appeal. FILE COPY

We order Bexar Appraisal District to show cause in writing, on or before January 5, 2022, why this appeal should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Bexar Appraisal District’s motion for extension of time to file its brief is HELD IN ABEYANCE.

_________________________________ Irene Rios, Justice

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 17th day of December, 2021.

___________________________________ MICHAEL A. CRUZ, Clerk of Court