Jeff Spence and Carrie Spence v. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: June 27, 2024
• Docket: 13-24-00174-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

NUMBER 13-24-00174-CV

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG

JEFF SPENCE AND CARRIE SPENCE, Appellants,

v.

FEDERAL HOME LOAN MORTGAGE CORPORATION, Appellee.

ON APPEAL FROM THE COUNTY COURT AT LAW OF JIM WELLS COUNTY, TEXAS

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Justices Benavides, Longoria, and Silva Memorandum Opinion by Justice Silva

On April 8, 2024, appellants Jeff Spence and Carrie Spence filed a notice of appeal

attempting to appeal a final judgment of possession in trial court cause number 24-01-

63514-CV. The notice of appeal indicates the appeal is being taken to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals. On June 5, 2024, the Clerk of the Court notified appellants that it

appears this Court does not have jurisdiction over the matter. Appellants were further

notified that if the defect was not corrected within ten days from the date of the notice, the

appeal would be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3.

Our jurisdiction is limited to the cases arising from within its district. See TEX.

CONST. art. V, § 6(a) (providing that the courts of appeals “shall have appellate jurisdiction

co-extensive with the limits of their respective districts . . . as may be prescribed by law”);

TEX. GOV’T. CODE ANN. § 22.220(a) (providing that the courts of appeals have jurisdiction

over cases “within its district of which the district courts or county courts have

jurisdiction”). Jim Wells County is not in our appellate district. Compare TEX. GOV’T. CODE

§ 22.201(n) (listing the twenty counties within the Thirteenth Court of Appeals District),

with id. § 22.201(e) (listing Jim Wells County as one of the counties within the jurisdiction

of the Fourth Court of Appeals District). This cause, arising from a case in Jim Wells

County, is not within our jurisdiction.

To date, appellants have neither cured the jurisdictional defect nor responded to

the Clerk’s notice. After ten days’ notice to all parties, we may dismiss a case for want of

jurisdiction. TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a). Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of

jurisdiction. See id.

CLARISSA SILVA Justice

Delivered and filed on the 27th day of June, 2024.