Jerald Miller v. the State of Texas

In the
Court of Appeals
Second Appellate District of Texas
at Fort Worth
___________________________

No. 02-25-00250-CV
___________________________

JERALD MILLER, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 153rd District Court
Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court No. 153-361706-25

Before Sudderth, C.J.; Kerr and Walker, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Walker
MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Jerald Miller attempts to appeal from the trial court’s “Order

Granting Defendant State of Texas’s Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Tex. R. Civ. P.

91a and Plea to the Jurisdiction.” The trial court signed the order on April 10, 2025,

and Miller filed his notice of appeal on May 29, 2025.

An order that grants or denies a plea to the jurisdiction by a governmental unit

is an appealable interlocutory order, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(8),

but an appeal from an interlocutory order is accelerated, and therefore the notice of

appeal must be filed within 20 days of the order’s signing, Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b),

28.1(a). We do not have jurisdiction over an appeal absent a timely-filed notice of

appeal—or a notice of appeal filed within the 15-day extension period in Rule 26.3.1

See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b), 26.3, 28.1(b); see also In re Mauer, No. 02-19-00063-CV,

2019 WL 1829572, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Apr. 25, 2019, no pet.) (per curiam)

(mem. op.).

1
The appellate rules allow us to extend the time for filing a notice of appeal, but
any such motion for extension must be filed within 15 days after the notice-of-appeal
deadline. Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; see Jones v. City of Houston, 976 S.W.2d 676, 677
(Tex. 1998) (citing former Rule 41(a)(2) and holding motion for extension may be
implied when an appellant acting in good faith files a notice of appeal beyond the time
allowed by the appellate rules but within the 15-day period in which appellant would
be entitled to move to extend the filing deadline); Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615,
617 (Tex. 1997) (similar). Here, no motion for extension was filed, and Miller filed his
notice of appeal after the 15-day extension period.

2
Because the trial court’s order was signed on April 10, 2025, Miller’s notice of

appeal was due no later than April 30, 2025. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann

§ 51.014(a)(8); Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b), 28.1(a)–(b). However, his notice of appeal was

not filed until May 29, 2025, making it untimely. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b).

On July 11, 2025, we notified Miller by letter of our concern that we lack

jurisdiction over this appeal because the notice of appeal was untimely filed. See Tex.

R. App. P. 26.1(b). We warned Miller that we could dismiss this appeal for want of

jurisdiction unless, by July 21, 2025, we received a response showing grounds for

continuing the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 44.3. We have not received a

response.

The timely filing of a notice of appeal is jurisdictional in this court, and absent a

timely filed notice of appeal or extension request, we must dismiss the appeal. See

Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(b), 26.1, 26.3; Jones, 976 S.W.2d at 677; Verburgt, 959 S.W.2d at

617. Because Miller’s notice of appeal was untimely filed, we dismiss the appeal for

want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f).

/s/ Brian Walker

Brian Walker
Justice

Delivered: August 21, 2025

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