Opinion
NO. 03-17-00497-CV
01-12-2018
Ron Valentine, Sr., Appellant v. Jeremy Jagodzinski and Christi M. Greene, Appellee
FROM COUNTY COURT AT LAW NO. 1 OF TRAVIS COUNTY
NO. C-1-CV-12-002634, HONORABLE TODD T. WONG, JUDGE PRESIDING MEMORANDUM OPINION
The clerk's record in this appeal was due for filing in this Court on November 27, 2017. On December 15, 2017, Ron Valentine Sr. was notified that no clerk's record had been filed due to his failure to pay or make arrangements to pay for the county clerk's fee for preparing the clerk's record. The notice requested that Valentine make arrangements for payment of the clerk's record and provide this Court with written verification of this arrangement by December 27, 2017. To date, Valentine has not filed the requested verification, and the clerk's record has not been filed.
If the trial court clerk fails to file the clerk's record due to appellant's failure to pay or make arrangements to pay for the clerk's fee for preparing the record, the appellate court may dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution unless the appellant was entitled to proceed without payment of costs. Tex. R. App. P. 37.3(b). In this case, Valentine has not established that he is entitled to proceed without payment of costs. See Tex. R. App. P. 20.1 (providing procedure for establishing indigence on appeal). Because Valentine has failed to pay or make arrangements to pay the clerk's fee for preparing the clerk's record, this appeal is dismissed for want of prosecution.
Although Valentine filed a declaration of inability to pay court costs, a contest to Valentine's declaration was sustained by the trial court. See Tex. R. App. P. 20.1; Tex. R. Civ. P. 145. Valentine then filed a motion in this Court, asking us to review the trial court's decision. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 145(g)(1) (providing for appellate review of trial court's order to sustain contest to declaration of inability to pay costs). Upon considering Valentine's motion and the record relevant to the issue, we declined to reverse the trial court's decision on the contest. See Valentine v. Jagodzinski, No. 03-17-00708-CV, 2017 WL 5559946, at *1 (Tex. App.—Austin Nov. 15, 2017, no pet. h.) (per curiam) (mem. op.).
/s/_________
Scott K. Field, Justice Before Chief Justice Rose, Justices Goodwin and Field Dismissed for Want of Prosecution Filed: January 12, 2018