State v. Exxon Mobil Chemical Company and Harris County, Texas

Opinion

Motion Granted, Appeal Dismissed, and Memorandum Opinion filed March 30, 2021.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

NO. 14-20-00146-CV

THE STATE OF TEXAS, ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, A NECESSARY AND INDISPENSABLE PARTY, Appellant

V. EXXON MOBIL CHEMICAL COMPANY AND HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, Appellees

On Appeal from the 190th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2019-52676

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This is an interlocutory appeal of an order signed on January 31, 2020 denying the plea to the jurisdiction filed by the State of Texas. The plea to the jurisdiction contended Harris County lacked standing to sue ExxonMobil Chemical Company. On March 12, 2021, Harris County filed a notice of nonsuit in the trial court of its claims against ExxonMobil. The trial court signed an order on March 17, 2021 dismissing Harris County’s suit.

A nonsuit of the underlying claims moots an interlocutory appeal from the denial of a plea to the jurisdiction with respect to those claims. Univ. of Texas Med. Branch at Galveston v. Est. of Blackmon ex rel. Shultz, 195 S.W.3d 98, 100 (Tex. 2006) (per curiam). On March 19, 2021, Harris County filed a motion in this court to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction on the ground that the appeal is moot. Harris County certified that all parties are unopposed to dismissal. Because the motion is unopposed, we need not wait 10 days before ruling on it. See Tex. R. App. P. 10.3(a)(2).

We grant the motion and dismiss the appeal.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Wise, Zimmerer, and Poissant.