Opinion
NUMBER 13-16-00053-CR
03-31-2016
THOMAS M. LOGAN, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.
On appeal from the Municipal Court - City of Corpus Christi of Nueces County, Texas.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Chief Justice Valdez and Justices Rodriguez and Benavides
Memorandum OpinionPer Curiam
Appellant, Thomas M. Logan, pro se, filed a notice of appeal on January 19, 2016 from an order issued by the Municipal Court of the City of Corpus Christi on January 6, 2016. The order relates to a violation for public intoxication/alcohol and denies Logan's motion to dismiss.
On January 20, 2016, the Clerk of this Court notified appellant that it appeared that the order from which the appeal was taken was not an appealable order, and requested correction of this defect within ten days or the appeal would be dismissed. Appellant has failed to respond to the Court's directive.
County criminal courts of appeal have sole jurisdiction of all appeals from criminal convictions for violations of municipal ordinances of municipalities located in the county. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 25.0594(a)(1) (West, Westlaw through 2015 R.S.); id. § 30.00014(a) (West, Westlaw through 2015 R.S.). Section 30.00027(a) of the Texas Government Code provides that the appellant has the right to appeal municipal court cases if: (1) the fine assessed against the defendant exceeds $100 and the judgment is affirmed by the county appellate court; or (2) the sole issue is the constitutionality of the statute or ordinance on which a conviction is based. TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 30.00027(a) (West, Westlaw through 2015 R.S.). The right to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court in a case originating in a municipal court of record is determined by Section 30.00027. See Tex. Vital Care v. State, 323 S.W.3d 609, 611-12 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2010, no pet.); Alexander v. State, 240 S.W.3d 72, 75 (Tex. App.—Austin 2007, no pet.).
The Texas Constitution confers the courts of appeals with jurisdiction over "all cases of which the District Courts or County Courts have original or appellate jurisdiction, under such restrictions and regulations as may be prescribed by law." TEX. CONST. art. V, § 6(a) (West, Westlaw through 2015 R.S.). This section limits our jurisdiction of appeals from county criminal court appellate decisions to the specific situations set forth in the statute. See Tex. Vital Care, 323 S.W.3d at 612; see also Skeen v. City of Richardson, No. 05-13-00064-CV, 2013 WL 2405501, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas May 31, 2013, no pet.) (mem. op.). If an appellate court is without jurisdiction over an appeal, it can only dismiss the appeal. See Sherman v. State, 12 S.W.3d 489, 492 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1999, no pet.).
The Court, having examined and fully considered the notice of appeal and the matters before the Court, is of the opinion that there is not an appealable order and this Court lacks jurisdiction over the matters herein. In this case, appellant is appealing an order denying his motion to dismiss and ordering him to appeal at a pretrial hearing and appellant has not asserted any other statutory rationale supporting our jurisdiction. Accordingly, this Court does not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal because the statutory requirements of Section 30.00027(a) of the Texas Government Code have not been satisfied. See Tex. Vital Care, 323 S.W.3d at 612. We DISMISS this appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
PER CURIAM Do not publish.
See TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b). Delivered and filed the 31st day of March, 2016.