Opinion
NO. 14-19-00244-CV
04-30-2019
DARRELL J. HARPER, Appellant v. HARRIS COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR, ANN HARRIS BENNETT, Appellee
On Appeal from the 152nd District Court Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 2017-77474
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant has been declared a vexatious litigant and is prohibited from filing new litigation in a Texas state court without permission from the local administrative judge. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 11.102. On November 19, 2018, appellant tendered a request to file new litigation against appellee. The administrative judge denied appellant's request on February 28, 2019. The order of denial states appellant "may appeal this decision by writ of mandamus to an appellate court."
The vexatious-litigant order was signed on January 20, 2014, by the 201st District Court of Travis County in cause number D-1-GN-14-004334. The order was subsumed by the final judgment, signed on May 29, 2015. The Austin Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, expressly concluding it had no basis to reverse the vexatious-litigant declaration. Harper v. State, No. 03-15-00405-CV, 2016 WL 4628067 (Tex. App.—Austin Aug. 30, 2016, pet. denied) (mem. op.).
Appellant now attempts to appeal the administrative judge's order. An order denying a vexatious litigant permission to file suit "is not grounds for appeal, except that the litigant may apply for a writ of mandamus with the court of appeals not later than the 30th day after the date of the decision." Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 11.102(f).
On April 9, 2019, this court notified the parties of its intention to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction unless a response was filed showing meritorious grounds for continuing the appeal. Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a). Appellant's response does not demonstrate that we have jurisdiction to hear his appeal.
The appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Wise, Jewell, and Hassan.