Douglas Ray Richards v. the State of Texas

In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-23-00048-CV
DOUGLAS RAY RICHARDS, APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE
March 15, 2023
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before QUINN, C.J., and PARKER and YARBROUGH, JJ.
Appellant, Douglas Ray Richards, acting pro se, attempts to appeal from a
“notification to prison officials to withdraw funds” from his inmate trust account. We
dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
Generally, an appellate court has jurisdiction to consider an appeal by a criminal
defendant only from a judgment of conviction or where appellate jurisdiction has been
expressly granted by law. See Abbott v. State, 271 S.W.3d 694, 696–97 (Tex. Crim. App.
2008). A “notice” to withdraw funds is not a judgment or order, but a notification from the
trial court that informs prison officials of an inmate’s financial obligations and directs
officials to withdraw funds. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 501.014(e); Harrell v. State, 286
S.W.3d 315, 316 n.1, 321 (Tex. 2009). The notice of appeal filed by Richards does not
demonstrate that he filed any post-notification motion in a trial court resulting in a final
order. An order ruling on such a motion may be appealable. See Ramirez v. State, 318
S.W.3d 906, 907–08 (Tex. App.—Waco 2010, no pet.) (outlining the procedure for
challenging a notice of withdrawal). At this time, however, we have no appealable order
in this case.
By letter of February 7, 2023, we notified Richards that it did not appear we had
jurisdiction over the appeal and directed him to show grounds for continuing the appeal
by February 17, or we would dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. Richards did not
respond to our letter and has had no further communication with this Court to date.
Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.
Per Curiam
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