In the Interest of A.D.A., a Child v. the State of Texas

COURT OF APPEALS
EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
EL PASO, TEXAS
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No. 08-26-00145-CV

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In the interest of A.D.A., a child

On Appeal from the 383rd District Court
El Paso County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2016DCM0997

M E MO RA N D UM O PI NI O N

On April 9, 2026, Appellant, who is representing himself, filed a notice of appeal stating

that he “desire[d] to appeal from the Entry of [Judgment] signed by the Honorable Lyda Ness

Garcia on 04/02/2026.” The notice characterized the appeal as an accelerated appeal because it

involved a termination of parental rights.
Based on the information provided by Appellant, the record was due on April 20, 2026. See

Tex. R. App. P. 35.1(b). However, no clerk’s record was filed on the date due. Instead, the trial

court clerk filed a letter indicating that the record would not be filed because “payment has not

been received [from] appellant for the clerk’s record.”

Because Appellant is representing himself, and because his notice of appeal asserted the

appeal pertained to a parental termination case, we ordered the trial court clerk to file a special

clerk’s record by May 4, 2026. The trial court clerk responded on May 1, 2026, and explained that

a record could not be delivered because the clerk “was unable to locate an order terminating

parental rights, an order dated April 2, 2026, an order declaring indigency, or a statement of

inability, or any similarly related documents.”

Based on the limited information, it appeared there existed no final judgment or order from

which Appellant could appeal. “Unless a statute authorizes an interlocutory appeal, appellate

courts generally only have jurisdiction over final judgments.” CMH Homes v. Perez, 340 S.W.3d

444, 447 (Tex. 2011); see Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex. 2001). Thus, on

May 8, 2026, we issued an order requiring Appellant to file a written response, on or before May

21, 2026, showing by citation to the law and to the record, how we have jurisdiction over this

appeal. We further required Appellant to file written proof from the trial court clerk showing either

that he had paid or arranged to pay for preparation of the clerk’s record, or written proof showing

he was entitled to appeal without paying the clerk’s fee or costs. Appellant filed no response. Thus,

Appellant has not shown we have jurisdiction over this appeal, nor has he shown he paid for

preparation of the clerk’s record or was entitled to appeal without payment of costs.

For these reasons, we dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 35.3(a)(2), 37.3(b), 42.3(a),

(b), (c). We dismiss any pending motions as moot.

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GINA M. PALAFOX, Justice

June 1, 2026

Before Salas Mendoza, C.J., Palafox and Soto, JJ.

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