Barry Dwayne Minnfee v. State

NO. 07-08-0389-CV
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
AT AMARILLO
PANEL B
NOVEMBER 3, 2008
______________________________
BARRY DWAYNE MINNFEE,
Appellant
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS,
Appellee
_______________________________
Order of Dismissal
________________________
Before QUINN, C.J. and CAMPBELL and HANCOCK, JJ.
Barry Dwayne Minnfee (Minnfee) has filed a document entitled “Extra-notice
Requirements Notice of Appeal. Objection to Civil Commitment.” Attached to the notice
is a document entitled “Offender Grievance Form,” which document appears to be
something provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Also before us is both
his motion to proceed as a pauper and a docketing statement. In the aforementioned
notice, Minnfee complains about his civil commitment and the fact that another inmate
“bangs on the walls” in the adjoining cell. Taken together, the items illustrate effort to
appeal some administrative action or decision taken by those operating the prison wherein
he resides. Moreover, this effort was undertaken without first presenting the dispute to a
trial court via an original petition or lawsuit. Consequently, question arose regarding
whether we had jurisdiction over the appeal. This lead us to contact Minnfee about the
matter via letter dated October 20, 2008, and direct him to show, within ten days, why we
have jurisdiction to entertain the appeal. To date, we have not received an answer to our
inquiry.
Courts of appeal generally have jurisdiction only over final orders and judgments
issued by trial courts. Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex. 2001).
Additionally, a judgment is final only when it disposes of all claims asserted by or against
all parties. As previously mentioned, the documents before us indicate that Minnfee
appealed from an administrative decision relating to an administrative grievance he had
filed. We have no final judgment or order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction
before us. Accordingly, we lack the authority to entertain the appeal and dismiss it for want
of jurisdiction.
Per Curiam
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