Colleen Marie Fisher v. Paul M. Cooke, Sr.

Order entered May 20, 2021
In The
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
No. 05-21-00243-CV
COLLEEN MARIE FISHER, Appellant
V.
PAUL M. COOKE, SR., Appellee
On Appeal from the 191st Judicial District Court
Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. DC-18-05882
ORDER
By letter filed May 17, 2021, Dallas County District Clerk Felicia Pitre
informs the Court that the clerk’s record has not been filed in this appeal because
appellant has not paid the fee for its preparation. Ms. Pitre notes that although
appellant filed a statement of inability to pay costs, the statement was filed ten days
after the clerk’s record invoice was sent and will be “honor[ed]” only for requests
made on or after the date the statement was filed.
Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145 governs statements of inability to afford
payment of costs for preparation of the record. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 145. Under the
rule, a party who files a statement of inability to pay can be required to pay costs
only by court order. See id. 145(a). The rule affords no discretion to the district
clerk to determine whether to “honor” a statement of inability to pay. See id. 145.
Accordingly, we ORDER Ms. Pitre to file the clerk’s record without payment of
costs no later than June 1, 2021.
The Court’s May 17, 2021 letter to the parties and Ms. Pitre concerning
payment of the clerk’s record shall be disregarded.
We DIRECT the Clerk of the Court to send a copy of this order to Ms. Pitre
and the parties.
/s/ BONNIE LEE GOLDSTEIN
JUSTICE