Cynthia G. Mitchell v. Carlos Hernandez

In the
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-25-00023-CV

CYNTHIA G. MITCHELL, ET AL., Appellants

V.

CARLOS HERNANDEZ, ET AL., Appellees

On Appeal from the 5th District Court
Cass County, Texas
Trial Court No. 25C030

Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice van Cleef
MEMORANDUM OPINION

On March 21, 2025, Appellants filed a notice of appeal from the trial court’s referral and

contempt order, which the trial court severed as a final order on February 11, 2025. Under Rule

26.1 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, a “notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days

after the judgment [or final appealable order] is signed” unless a qualifying post-judgment

motion is filed that extends that deadline to ninety days. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(a). Based on the

record before this Court, there were no post-judgment motions filed in this matter that extended

the filing deadline; thus, the deadline for filing a notice of appeal from the trial court’s February

11, 2025, referral and contempt order was March 13, 2025. The notice of appeal in this matter

was not filed until March 21, 2025, making it untimely.

Although the fifteen-day motion for extension of time contemplated by Rule 26.3 of the

Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure is implied in civil cases, an appellant must also provide a

reasonable explanation for the late filing to avoid dismissal of the appeal. In re G.J.P., 314

S.W.3d 217, 221 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2010, pet. denied).

By letter dated May 27, 2025, we requested that Appellants file with this Court a

reasonable explanation for the late filing of their notice of appeal. We warned Appellants that, if

we did not receive an adequate response on or before June 6, 2025, we could dismiss the appeal

for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3. Appellants did not respond to our request. As

a result, this appeal is ripe for dismissal.

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We dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Charles van Cleef
Justice
Date Submitted: June 12, 2025
Date Decided: June 13, 2025

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