Opinion
No. 01-08-000414-CV
Opinion issued May 22, 2009.
On Appeal from the 165th District Court, Harris County, Texas, Trial Court Cause No. 2006-50301.
Panel consists of Justices KEYES, HANKS, and BLAND.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant, Carolyn K. McCollum, brings this appeal from an order granting the plea to the jurisdiction filed by appellee, the Texas Department of License and Regulation. McCollum did not timely file her notice of appeal, and therefore we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
The timely filing of a notice of appeal is a jurisdictional prerequisite to appeal. See McCaskell v. Methodist Hosp., 856 S.W.2d 519, 521 (Tex.App. 1993, no writ). Without a timely filed motion for new trial or any other instrument to extend the deadline under Rule 26.1(a) or 26.3, appellants must file their notices of appeal within 30 days after the judgment was signed. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1, 26.3.
In this case, McCollum did not timely file a motion for new trial to extend the deadline to file her notice of appeal. The judgment in this case was signed on February 21, 2008, and the deadline to file a motion for new trial was March 24, 2008. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 329b(a). The clerk's record indicates that McCollum did not file her motion for new trial until two days after this deadline had passed, on March 26, 2008. The clerk's record also reflects that McCollum did not timely file any other instrument to extend the deadline to file her notice of appeal under Rule 26.3. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1.
On July 8, 2008, this Court informed McCollum by mail that we would dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction unless, within 15 days, she demonstrated that the motion for new trial was timely filed. To date, we have not received a response from McCollum. Accordingly, we hold that McCollum's motion for new trial was untimely filed and that this motion did not extend the time to file the notice of appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(a)(1).
The record reflects that McCollum's notice of appeal was filed more than 30 days after the judgment was signed. Accordingly, this appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction. TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a).