William Rodriguez v. Harris County, Texas

Tex. App. Ct., 1st Dist. (Houston)

William Rodriguez v. Harris County, Texas

Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston)·Decided August 13, 2026·No. 01-26-00517-CV·Published

Opinion

Opinion issued August 13, 2026

In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas

to 90 days after the judgment is signed if appellant files a timely motion for new trial or other post-judgment motion. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 329b. The appellate court may also extend the time to file the notice of appeal if, within 15 days after the deadline for filing it, appellant files the notice of appeal in the trial court and files a motion for extension of time in the appellate court. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3. An appellate court’s jurisdiction is invoked only if a notice of appeal is timely filed. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.1(b).

Here, the clerk’s record indicates that appellant filed no post-judgment motions that would have extended the deadline for filing the notice of appeal and, even if he had, they would only have extended the deadline until 90 days after the trial court signed the judgment or until December 11, 2025. Appellant filed his notice of appeal nine months after the judgment was signed.

Appellant filed a brief containing a short response to our notice of lack of jurisdiction. In this response, appellant did not establish that this Court has jurisdiction, but merely asked that we avoid dismissing on a procedural ground. Without a timely-filed notice of appeal, however, this Court’s jurisdiction is not invoked and, if we lack jurisdiction, we have no choice but to dismiss the appeal. See Jarrell v. Bergdorf, 580 S.W.3d 463. 467 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2019, no pet.).

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f). Any pending motions are dismissed as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Caughey, Johnson, and Dokupil.

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Opinion issued August 13, 2026

In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas

to 90 days after the judgment is signed if appellant files a timely motion for new trial or other post-judgment motion. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 329b. The appellate court may also extend the time to file the notice of appeal if, within 15 days after the deadline for filing it, appellant files the notice of appeal in the trial court and files a motion for extension of time in the appellate court. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3. An appellate court’s jurisdiction is invoked only if a notice of appeal is timely filed. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.1(b).

Here, the clerk’s record indicates that appellant filed no post-judgment motions that would have extended the deadline for filing the notice of appeal and, even if he had, they would only have extended the deadline until 90 days after the trial court signed the judgment or until December 11, 2025. Appellant filed his notice of appeal nine months after the judgment was signed.

Appellant filed a brief containing a short response to our notice of lack of jurisdiction. In this response, appellant did not establish that this Court has jurisdiction, but merely asked that we avoid dismissing on a procedural ground. Without a timely-filed notice of appeal, however, this Court’s jurisdiction is not invoked and, if we lack jurisdiction, we have no choice but to dismiss the appeal. See Jarrell v. Bergdorf, 580 S.W.3d 463. 467 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2019, no pet.).

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f). Any pending motions are dismissed as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Caughey, Johnson, and Dokupil.

William Rodriguez v. Harris County, Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2026).

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