Opinion
No. 10-06-00362-CV
Opinion delivered and filed January 24, 2007.
Appeal from the 343rd District Court, San Patricio County, Texas, Trial Court No. S-06-5384-CV-C.
Before Chief Justice GRAY, Justice VANCE, and Justice REYNA.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant Donald McCray is attempting to appeal an order of the 343rd District Court of San Patricio County. We notified McCray that this appeal is subject to dismissal for want of jurisdiction because this Court does not have appellate jurisdiction over appeals from San Patricio County. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 22.201(k), (n) (Vernon Supp. 2006). We stated that the appeal may be dismissed for want of jurisdiction unless McCray filed a response showing grounds for continuing the appeal within twenty-one days from the date of our letter. McCray has filed a response and concedes that we do not have jurisdiction. Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f).
In his response McCray also moved the court to transfer this appeal to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals. McCray's request that we transfer the appeal to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals did not comply with the procedures to obtain a transfer. See Miles v. Ford Motor Co., 914 S.W.2d 135, 137 (Tex. 1995).
The proper procedure for presenting a motion to transfer to this Court is as follows: The party requesting a transfer should file a copy of the motion to transfer in each of the two courts of appeals, asking that, when the motion is forwarded to the Supreme Court, each court of appeals advise the Supreme Court in writing whether it has any objection to the proposed transfer. Any briefs in favor of the proposed transfer should also be filed in each court of appeals and forwarded with the transfer motion. We will then have the motion, the briefs, and the comments of the two courts of appeals in determining whether to grant the motion to transfer.
Id. at footnote 2.
Only the Texas Supreme Court has the authority to transfer an appeal from one court of appeals district to another. Id. at 137. ("Only the Supreme Court is authorized to transfer appellate cases.") The relevant statute provides: "The supreme court may order cases transferred from one court of appeals to another at any time that, in the opinion of the supreme court, there is good cause for the transfer." TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 73.001 (Vernon 2005).
Accordingly, because we do not have the authority to make such a transfer and because the procedure to obtain such a transfer has not been complied with, the motion for transfer of this appeal is dismissed.
Finally, we note that McCray has failed to pay the filing fees incurred in this appeal. Absent a specific exemption, the Clerk of the Court must collect filing fees at the time a document is presented for filing. TEX. R. APP. P. 12.1(b); Appendix to TEX. R. APP. P., Order Regarding Fees (July 21, 1998); see also TEX. R. APP. P. 5; 10TH TEX. APP. (WACO) LOC. R. 5; TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 51.207(b) (Vernon 2005). To prove up an exemption, McCray filed an indigence affidavit. But due to the cost of compliance when balanced against the likelihood that McCray, who is an inmate, would not be determined to be indigent if his affidavit were contested, we did not require the clerk to attempt to comply with Rule 20.1(d)(2). TEX. R. APP. P. 20.1(d)(2). Under these circumstances, we suspend the rules and order the Clerk to write off all unpaid filing fees in this appeal. TEX. R. APP. P. 2.
Appeal dismissed