Opinion
02-24-00457-CV
12-19-2024
David Dwayne Womack, Appellant v. Justice of the Peace Kenneth D. Sanders, Appellee
On Appeal from the 352nd District Court Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 352-358560-24
Before Sudderth, C.J.; Kerr and Walker, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Brian Walker Justice
Appellant David Dwayne Womack filed his notice of appeal with this court following his filing of a suit in the 352nd District Court.
It appears that, instead of filing a de novo appeal to the county court at law from an October 1, 2024, forcible detainer judgment in Justice Court Precinct 7, Womack filed this suit, as well as a separate suit in Tarrant County Court at Law No. 2.
We were informed by the trial court clerk that the trial judge had not signed any orders in this case. Therefore, it appeared that there is no final judgment or order subject to appeal, and Womack's notice of appeal is premature. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a), 27.1(a). Accordingly, we informed Womack of our concern that we lack jurisdiction over this appeal. We requested the parties to provide us with a copy of an appealable order and warned that the appeal would be dismissed for want of jurisdiction if no such order was furnished.
Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 27.1 "does not contemplate an appellate place holder until there is a final appealable judgment." Ganeson v. Reeves, 236 S.W.3d 816, 817 (Tex. App.-Waco 2007, pet. denied). Rule 27.1 does not serve to require an appellate court to "docket and hold an appeal open until there is an appealable judgment or order at some future date." Id.; see Burns v. Burns, No. 12-22-00051-CV, 2022 WL 1483623, at *1 (Tex. App.-Tyler May 11, 2022, no pet.) (mem. op.).
Womack did not respond to our letter, and a signed final judgment or appealable order was not furnished to us. Without such a judgment or order, we have no jurisdiction over his appeal. See Burns, 2022 WL 1483623, at *2. Thus, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f).