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Willie Lewis v. City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Fort Worth Independent School District, Tarrant County College District, Tarrant County Hospital District, and Tarrant Regional Water District

Citation: Not availableDocket: 02-22-00411-CV

Court: Court of Appeals of Texas; November 16, 2022; Texas; State Appellate Court

Original Court Document: View Document

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In the case of Willie Lewis v. City of Fort Worth et al., the Court of Appeals for the Second Appellate District of Texas addressed the appeal filed by Appellant Willie Lewis concerning a property tax judgment made by the trial court in August 2016. The trial court ruled that the Appellees were owed delinquent property taxes and authorized the sale of a real property partially owned by Lewis to satisfy this tax obligation. The property was subsequently sold in May 2018. 

Lewis filed a notice of appeal in October 2022, which was significantly beyond the 30-day filing requirement following the judgment, as outlined in Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.1. Although there are provisions for extending this deadline through qualifying postjudgment motions, these extensions do not permit delays of several years. The court emphasized that the filing timeline is jurisdictional, and failure to comply results in mandatory dismissal of the appeal.

Upon noticing the untimeliness of Lewis's appeal, the court requested a response to demonstrate jurisdictional grounds. Lewis's response addressed the merits of his case but did not provide legal justification for the late filing. Consequently, the court determined that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal due to the untimely notice and dismissed the appeal for want of jurisdiction, confirming that Lewis's response did not rectify this issue. The opinion was delivered by Chief Justice Sudderth on November 17, 2022.