Noel Castillo and Norma Castillo v. Maria Martinez

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: January 5, 2023
• Docket: 08-22-00167-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS EL PASO, TEXAS §

NOEL CASTILLO AND NORMA § No. 08-22-00167-CV CASTILLO, § Appeal from the Appellants, § County Criminal Court No. 1 v. § of El Paso County, Texas MARIA MARTINEZ, § (TC# 2022-CCV00425) Appellee. §

§

§ ORDER

Appellant, Noel Castillo, filed a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Courts Costs

or an Appeal Bond. See TEX.R.CIV.P. 145. Appellee has filed a challenge to the Statement of

Inability. With the recent amendments of TEX.R.CIV.P. 145 and TEX.R.APP.P. 20.1, the Texas

Supreme Court made significant changes to the procedures for determining whether a party can be

required to pay costs in the trial court and on appeal. Rule 145 governs a party’s claim that the

party is unable to afford appellate fees and the costs for preparation of the appellate record.

TEX.R.CIV.P. 145; TEX.R.APP.P. 20.1, cmt. We conclude that it is necessary for the trial court to

conduct a hearing as contemplated by Rule 145.

It is therefore ordered that the trial court conduct a hearing to determine whether Appellant

1 Castillo is able to afford to pay the appellate fees and the costs of the appellate record. The hearing

should be conducted as soon as practicable, but Castillo must be given ten days’ notice of the

hearing. See TEX.R.CIV.P. 145.

The trial court must issue an order which complies with TEX.R.CIV.P. 145(f)(6). In the

event that the trial court finds that Appellant can afford to pay costs, Appellant can challenge that

ruling by motion filed in this Court pursuant to TEX.R.APP.P. 145(g) no later than ten days after

the order is signed. The trial court shall forward its order to the County Clerk of El Paso County,

Texas as soon as practicable after the hearing, but no later than three days after the order is signed.

The County Clerk shall prepare and forward a supplemental clerk’s record containing the order to

this Court as soon as possible, but no later than five days after the trial court files the order. It will

not be necessary for the court reporter to file a record of the hearing unless the trial court rules that

Appellant is able to afford to pay for the appellate record. All appellate deadlines shall be

suspended pending resolution of these issues. After this matter is resolved, the Court will issue an

order reestablishing the appellate deadlines.

IT IS SO ORDERED this 5th day of January, 2023.

PER CURIAM Before Rodriguez, C.J., Palafox and Soto, JJ.