Degrate Realty v. City of Temple

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 8th District (El Paso)
• Decided: June 26, 2026
• Docket: 08-26-00046-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS EL PASO, TEXAS ———————————— No. 08-26-00046-CV ———————————— Degrate Realty, LLC, Appellant v. City of Temple, Appellee

On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 2 Bell County, Texas Trial Court No. 23CCV00787

M E MO RA N D UM O PI NI O N 1

This appeal is before the Court on its own motion to determine whether it should be

dismissed for want of prosecution. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3. Finding that the clerk’s record has not

been filed or paid for due to the fault of Appellant, we dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution.

1 This case was transferred pursuant to the Texas Supreme Court’s docket equalization efforts. Tex. Gov’t Code § 73.001. We follow the precedent of the Third Court of Appeals to the extent it might conflict with our own. See Tex. R. App. P. 41.3. The clerk’s record in this case was due May 1, 2026. On May 4, 2026, the County Clerk

filed a letter notice that Appellant had neither paid for nor arranged to pay for the preparation of

the clerk’s record. See Tex. R. App. P. 35.3(a)(2). On May 4, 2026, Appellant was notified to

provide written proof that arrangements had been made for the clerk’s record. Appellant was

advised that the appeal may be dismissed for want of prosecution if it failed to provide such proof

by May 15, 2026. On May 19, 2026, Appellant filed a letter in this Court “requesting complete

clerk’s records regarding Trial Court Case Number: 23CCV00787,” stating “I need the amount to

pay and instructions for making the payment.” On May 28, 2026, this Court received a letter from

the County Clerk indicating that the required fee for preparing the clerk’s record had not been paid.

On June 2, 2026, this Court ordered Appellant to file, by June 12, 2026, written proof that

Appellant had paid or made arrangements to pay the fee for the clerk’s record or provide written

proof showing it is otherwise entitled to proceed without paying the clerk’s fee. We again advised

Appellant that failure to comply may result in dismissal of the appeal for want of prosecution. See

Tex. R. App. P. 35.3(a)(2), (c), 37.3(b), 42.3(b), (c). On June 12, 2026, Appellant only filed in this

Court a copy of a purported email from Appellant to the County Clerk stating, “Please provide a

copy of the court record for the above mentioned case and the fee along with instructions to pay.”

To date, the clerk’s record has not been filed, and the Court has not received written proof

from Appellant regarding the clerk’s fee. Accordingly, we dismiss for want of prosecution. See

Tex. R. App. P. 35.3(a)(2), (c), 37.3(b), 42.3(b), (c).

LISA J. SOTO, Justice

June 26, 2026

Before Salas Mendoza, C.J., Palafox, and Soto, JJ.