Opinion
No. 05-20-00579-CV
06-12-2020
DALLAS COUNTY SHERIFF MARIAN BROWN, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY, Appellant v. DAVID DANIELS, JODIE CAMPBELL, AND KELLIE MCCULLAR, ON BEHALF OF THEMSELVES AND A CLASS OF MEDICALLY-VULNERABLE PERSONS, Appellees
On Appeal from the 298th Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. DC-20-07112
ORDER
Before Chief Justice Burns, Justice Whitehill, and Justice Molberg
This appeal follows the trial court's May 28, 2020 email ruling denying appellant's plea to the jurisdiction. Noting a written order has not yet been signed, appellees, medically-vulnerable persons detained in the Dallas County Jail, have filed an emergency motion to summarily dismiss the appeal. See Farmer v. Ben E. Keith Co., 907 S.W.2d 495, 496 (Tex. 1995) (per curiam) ("appellate timetable does not commence to run other than by signed, written order") (emphasis in original). They also seek alternative relief in the form of expedited briefing and an emergency temporary order either requiring appellant "to effectively enforce her existing 'policy' of social distancing in the jail" or directing appellant "to provide expedited discovery and schedule a prompt hearing for a determination of whether a temporary injunction should be entered." Appellant has filed a response, opposing the dismissal of the appeal and request for temporary relief. She asserts the trial court has not signed a written order denying the plea to the jurisdiction because appellees, whom the trial court directed prepare a proposed order, have not yet filed the proposed order. Appellant does not oppose an expedited briefing schedule.
A review of the clerk's record and trial court's online docket sheet reflect appellees have prepared a proposed order, which appellant has approved as to form, but have not yet filed it. Instead, on June 8, 2020, they filed a proposed "order deferring plea to jurisdiction" until expedited discovery has been completed. The proposed order prepared by appellees in accordance with the trial court's May 28th email, however, has been filed twice by appellant, most recently on June 3, 2020. Neither the clerk's record nor the online docket sheet reflect either of the proposed orders have been signed or that a hearing has been set on the orders.
Appellees reference this in a reply.
Given that the trial court has had but a few days to consider the two proposed orders, we DEFER ruling on appellees' motion. We ORDER appellant to file a status report no later than June 22, 2020. Appellees may file any response within three days of the filing of the report. A copy of any order signed by the trial court shall be included in a supplemental clerk's record. Once the Court has reviewed the status report and any response, the Court will issue any ruling it deems appropriate, including dismissal of the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
We DIRECT the Clerk of the Court to send a copy of this order to the Honorable Emily Tobolowsky, Presiding Judge of the 298th Judicial District Court; Dallas County District Clerk Felicia Pitre; and, the parties.
/s/ ROBERT D. BURNS, III
CHIEF JUSTICE