In Re: The Commitment of Terry Hornbuckle v. the State of Texas ( 2023 )

In the
Court of Appeals
Second Appellate District of Texas
at Fort Worth
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No. 02-23-00070-CV
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IN RE: THE COMMITMENT OF TERRY HORNBUCKLE
On Appeal from the 372nd District Court
Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court No. D372-S-14054-18
Before Bassel, Womack, and Wallach, JJ.
Per Curiam Memorandum Opinion
MEMORANDUM OPINION
On March 6, 2023, we received a document entitled “Notice of Appeal
Pursuant to Provisions of §[ ]841.146, Texas Health [and Safety] Code.” That same
day, we sent the parties a letter informing them that we had received a copy of the
notice of appeal in this case but that it appeared that the notice of appeal was
premature because the trial court judge had not signed an order. See Tex. R. App. P.
26.1(a), 27.1. We gave the parties reasonable time to correct the defect in the record,
see Tex. R. App. P. 44.3, 44.4(a)(2), but did not receive a signed order.
We sent the parties a second letter on May 12, 2023, informing them that upon
review of the record, it appeared that the trial court judge had sent the parties an
emailed letter ruling on “Respondent’s Unauthorized Petition for Release” and had
asked the State’s attorney to prepare an order for the judge to sign. We further stated
that this order is not contained in the clerk’s record, however, and that the trial court
clerk had informed this court that no order was ever signed. We permitted the parties
another opportunity to correct the defect in the record, giving them until June 1,
2023, to furnish this court a signed copy of the order that Appellant seeks to appeal.
See Tex. R. App. P. 44.3, 44.4(a)(2). We stated that if no order was signed and
furnished by that date, this appeal would be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. See
Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f).
The deadline has passed, and we have not a received a signed copy of a final
judgment or appealable order. We thus dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
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See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f); see Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195
(Tex. 2001) (explaining that an appellate court has jurisdiction over appeals from final
judgments and from certain interlocutory orders made appealable by statute).
Per Curiam
Delivered: June 29, 2023
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