Opinion
No. 09-10-00306-CV
Opinion Delivered November 10, 2010.
On Appeal from the 172nd District Court Jefferson County, Texas, Trial Cause No. E-185,886.
Before McKEITHEN, C.J., KREGER and HORTON, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
The appellants filed a motion for extension of time to file notice of appeal on October 6, 2010. The appellees Beaumont Independent School District, Port Arthur Independent School District, Express Services, Inc., d/b/a Express Employment Professionals, and Frost Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a American Personnel and Temps opposed the motion but did not articulate grounds for denying the motion for extension of time.
The trial court signed four interlocutory orders granting pleas to the jurisdiction filed by Beaumont Independent School District, Port Arthur Independent School District, Express Services, Inc. d/b/a Express Employment Professionals, Prime Electrical Services, LLC and Prime Electrical WBE, LLC on either May 20, 2010, or May 25, 2010. The trial court signed an additional interlocutory order granting a plea to the jurisdiction filed by Frost Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a American Personnel and Temps on June 16, 2010. The appellants filed notices of appeal from the five interlocutory orders on June 18, 2010. In response to an inquiry regarding the jurisdictional basis for appealing the orders, the appellants conceded that only the orders granting the pleas to the jurisdiction filed by Beaumont Independent School District and Port Arthur Independent School District are subject to interlocutory appeal. See Tex. Civ. Prac. Rem. Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(8) (West 2008). As stated, the appellants filed a motion for extension of time to file notice of appeal.
The appellate timetables commenced with the signing of appealable orders on May 20 or May 25, 2010. Appellants' motion demonstrates that the notice of appeal was not timely filed due to inadvertence or mistake. A notice of appeal was filed with the clerk of the trial court on June 18, 2010, within fifteen days of the last day allowed for perfecting appeal.
On inquiry from this Court, the appellants failed to identify a jurisdictional basis for an interlocutory appeal of the trial court's orders granting pleas to the jurisdiction filed by Express Services, Inc. d/b/a Express Employment Professionals, Prime Electrical Services, LLC and Prime Electrical WBE, LLC, and Frost Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a American Personnel and Temps. Accordingly, the accelerated appeals from the trial court's orders granting the pleas to the jurisdiction filed by Express Services, Inc., d/b/a Express Employment Professionals, Prime Electrical Services, LLC and Prime Electrical WBE, LLC, and Frost Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a American Personnel and Temps are dismissed without prejudice. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3.
The Court finds the appellants filed a notice of appeal from the trial court's orders granting the pleas to the jurisdiction filed by Beaumont Independent School District and Port Arthur Independent School District within fifteen days of the last day allowed for perfecting appeal, and further finds the motion reasonably explains the need for an extension of time to perfect appeal. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 615 (Tex. 1997). Therefore, the Court GRANTS a fifteen-day extension of time to the appellants to perfect appeal from the trial court's orders granting pleas to the jurisdiction of Beaumont Independent School District and Port Arthur Independent School District. Tex. R. App. P. 26.3. We direct the Clerk of the Court to re-style the appeal as James Doty, Kelvin L. Brown, Cornelius Thomas, Justin Brown, Dereck Hadnot, Jerry Gage, Brandon McKenney, Larry E. Lewis, Reginald Dean, Jardell Resean Elam, Adam Guillot, Stephen Rivero, Robert Darden, Matt Faul, Herman Joseph, David R. Die, Jr., Angela Polk, Dustin Sharp, and Stephen Shultz v. Beaumont Independent School District and Port Arthur Independent School District.
APPEAL DISMISSED IN PART.