Opinion
05-23-00617-CV
11-13-2023
MICHAEL LEWIS AND MICHELLE SHUMATE, Appellants v. MICHAEL PORAY AND PAIGE PORAY A/N/F M.P., A MINOR CHILD, Appellees
On Appeal from the 191st Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. DC-23-06449
Before Justices Molberg, Reichek, and Smith, J.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
KEN MOLBERG JUSTICE.
Appellants appeal from the associate judge's "Order denying Defendants' Plea to the Jurisdiction[.]" Because no appealable order has been signed, we dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a).
Appellees filed the underlying suit against appellants, assistant principals at appellees' son's high school, seeking a declaratory judgment and temporary injunctive relief. In response, appellants filed a plea to the jurisdiction. The associate judge heard argument on the plea at the temporary injunction hearing, and following the hearing, signed an order titled "Order Denying Plaintiffs' Motion for Temporary Injunction Nunc Pro Tunc." The order recites in its entirety as follows:
On June 2, 2023, the Court considered Plaintiff's motion to grant a Temporary Injunction against Defendants Michael Lewis and Michelle Shumate.
After conducting an evidentiary hearing, and considering the pleadings and arguments of counsel, the Court DENIES the Request for Temporary Injunction. It is therefore ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that Plaintiffs' motion for a Temporary Injunction is DENIED.
All other relief requested is hereby DENIED.
Although appellants appeal from the "Order denying Defendants' Plea to the Jurisdiction[,]" no such order was signed. Instead, relying on Thomas v. Long, 207 S.W.3d 334 (Tex. 2006), appellants construed the order denying temporary injunctive relief as implicitly denying their plea, "because, without jurisdiction, [the associate judge] did not have the authority to rule on [the] request for [injunctive relief]." 207 S.W.3d at 339-40 ("Because a trial court cannot reach the merits of a case without subject matter jurisdiction (citation omitted), a trial court that rules on the merits of an issue without explicitly rejecting an asserted jurisdictional attack has implicitly denied the jurisdictional challenge.").
In a letter questioning our jurisdiction, we noted that, to the extent the order denying temporary injunctive relief might have implicitly denied the plea, the order was not yet appealable because the referring court had not signed it. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 54A.116(b),(c) (together providing that the date an agreed or default order is signed by the associate judge is the controlling date for the purpose of an appeal to an appellate court; an appeal from all other orders signed by the associate judge is controlled by the date the referring court signs the order). We directed appellants to file jurisdictional briefing, but although they complied, they failed to address our concern. Accordingly, on the record before us, we dismiss the appeal. See id. § 54A.116(b); Tex.R.App.P. 42.3(a).
JUDGMENT
In accordance with this Court's opinion of this date, we DISMISS the appeal.
We ORDER that appellees Michael Poray and Paige Poray a/n/f M.P., a minor child, recover their costs, if any, of this appeal from appellants Michael Lewis and Michelle Shumate.