In the Interest of T.M., a Child v. the State of Texas

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

No. 06-25-00097-CV

IN THE INTEREST OF T.M., A CHILD

On Appeal from the 303rd District Court
Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court No. DF-18-15345

Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice van Cleef
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This case involves a suit affecting the parent-child relationship.1 On August 4, 2025,

pro se Appellant filed a notice of appeal indicating her intent to appeal from a final judgment

signed by the trial court on August 1, 2025. After reviewing the clerk’s record, the Court was

unable to locate an appealable judgment or order signed by the trial court on August 1 or any

other date. “We cannot exercise appellate jurisdiction without a written final judgment or

appealable interlocutory order.” Williams v. Atmos Energy Corp., No. 05-25-00662-CV, 2025

WL 2607677, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Sept. 9, 2025, no pet.) (mem. op.) (citing Nat’l Judgment

Recovery Ctr. v. Sweet, No. 05-17-01379-CV, 2018 WL 1101373, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas

Mar. 1, 2018, no pet.) (mem. op.)).

By letter dated October 15, 2025, we notified Appellant of the apparent defect in our

jurisdiction and afforded her the opportunity to demonstrate proper grounds for our retention of

the appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3. We warned Appellant that if we did not receive an

adequate response by November 4, 2025, we would have no choice but to dismiss her appeal.

Although Appellant filed a timely response to our letter, it did not include a satisfactory

explanation as to how this Court had jurisdiction over her appeal.

Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Charles van Cleef
Justice

Date Submitted: November 5, 2025
Date Decided: November 6, 2025

1
Originally appealed to the Fifth Court of Appeals, this case was transferred to this Court by the Texas Supreme
Court pursuant to its docket equalization efforts. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 73.001 (Supp.).
2