In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-14-00154-CV
IN THE INTEREST OF A.A.E., A CHILD
On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 2
Potter County, Texas
Trial Court No. 847782, Honorable Pamela Cook Sirmon, Presiding
April 28, 2014
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before CAMPBELL and HANCOCK and PIRTLE, JJ.
Appellant, Jessica, attempts to appeal the order signed on April 15, 2014, by an
associate judge in a family law matter involving conservatorship of and child support for
her son, A.A.E.1 Concluding that we do not have jurisdiction over this matter, we will
dismiss the cause for want of jurisdiction.
We have jurisdiction to consider an appeal from a “final order” rendered under
Title 5 of the Texas Family Code. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 109.002(b) (West 2014);
1
To protect the parent’s and child’s privacy, we will refer to the mother by the alias, “Jessica,”
and refer to the child by his initials. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 109.002(d) (West 2014); TEX. R. APP. P.
9.8(b).
Graham v. Graham, 414 S.W.3d 800, 801 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2013, no
pet.); see also Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex. 2001) (observing
that “the general rule, with a few mostly statutory exceptions, is that an appeal may be
taken only from a final judgment”).
An order of an associate judge presiding over a Title IV-D case may become an
order of the referring court by operation of law without need for ratification by the
referring court. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 201.1041(a) (West 2014). However, the
order automatically becomes final only if a request for a de novo hearing is not filed in
the referring court within three days of the associate judge’s ruling. See id. §§
201.015(a) (West 2014), 201.1041(a); In re the Office of the Att’y Gen. of Tex., 215
S.W.3d 913, 916 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2007, orig. proceeding).
Here, it has come to the attention to the Clerk of this Court that a request for a de
novo hearing has been timely filed in the County Court at Law No. 2 of Potter County
under trial court cause number 847782, and that case is currently on that court’s active
docket. That being so, the associate judge’s order signed April 15, 2014, is not a final
order from which an appeal may be taken to this Court.
We lack jurisdiction to consider the appeal of an associate judge’s order that is
not final. See Graham, 414 S.W.3d at 802. Accordingly, we dismiss this case for want
of jurisdiction. TEX. R. APP. P. 43.2(f).
Mackey K. Hancock
Justice
2
in the Interest of A.A.E., a Child
Combined Opinion