COURT OF APPEALS
EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
EL PASO, TEXAS
§
GWEN M. ROWLING, § No. 08-16-00297-CV
Appellant, § Appeal from the
v. § 41st District Court
HARRY H. ROWLING, § of El Paso County, Texas
Appellee. § (TC# 2015DCV-0770)
§
ORDER
Appellant filed in the trial court, and contemporaneous with her pro se notice of appeal,
an affidavit of indigence. Appellant asserts that she is unable to pay for the clerk’s record and
reporter’s record on appeal. Appellee filed a contest as permitted under the former rules, rather
than a motion filed pursuant to the current version of TEX.R.CIV.P. 145(f)(1). See TEX.R.CIV.P.
145(f)(1)(permitting a party to challenge Statement of Inability by filing a motion and setting
forth requirements of the motion). The District Clerk filed the Clerk’s Record containing the
affidavit of indigence and the contest.
With the recent amendments of TEX.R.CIV.P. 145 and TEX.R.APP.P. 20.1, the Texas
Supreme Court made significant changes to the procedures for determining whether a party can
be required to pay costs in the trial court and on appeal. Rule 145 governs a party’s claim that
the party is unable to afford costs for preparation of the appellate record. TEX.R.CIV.P. 145;
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TEX.R.APP.P. 20.1, cmt. We conclude that it is necessary for the trial court to conduct a hearing
as contemplated by Rule 145.
It is therefore ordered that the trial court conduct a hearing to determine whether
Appellant is able to afford to pay for the appellate record. The hearing should be conducted as
soon as practicable, but Appellant must be given ten days’ notice of the hearing. See
TEX.R.CIV.P. 145. The trial court should address whether Appellee’s contest meets the
requirements of Rule 145(f)(1). See In the Interest of A.M., --- S.W.3d ---. 2016 WL 6835727
(Tex.App.--El Paso November 21, 2016).
The trial court must issue an order which complies with TEX.R.CIV.P. 145(f)(6). In the
event that the trial court finds that Appellant can afford to pay costs, Appellant can challenge that
ruling by motion filed in this Court pursuant to TEX.R.APP.P. 145(g) no later than ten days after
the order is signed. The trial court shall forward its order to the District Clerk of El Paso County,
Texas as soon as practicable after the hearing, but no later than three days after the order is
signed. The District Clerk shall prepare and forward a supplemental clerk’s record containing the
order to this Court as soon as possible, but no later than five days after the trial court files the
order. It will not be necessary for the court reporter to file a record of the hearing unless the trial
court rules that Appellant is able to afford to pay for the appellate record. All appellate deadlines
shall be suspended pending resolution of these issues. The Court will issue an order
reestablishing the appellate deadlines.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 2nd day of December, 2016.
PER CURIAM
Before McClure, C.J., Rodriguez and Hughes, JJ.
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Gwen M. Rowling v. Harry H. Rowling
Combined Opinion