DENY; and Opinion Filed June 3, 2019.
In The
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
No. 05-19-00606-CV
IN RE JAMES H. GENTRY, Relator
Original Proceeding from the 199th Judicial District Court
Collin County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 199-03888-2018
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Justices Brown, Schenck, and Reichek
Opinion by Justice Brown
In this original proceeding, relator seeks a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to rule
on certain motions purportedly filed per the mailbox rule between February 20, 2019 and March
28, 2019. When a motion is properly filed and pending before a trial court, the act of giving
consideration to and ruling upon that motion is a ministerial act, and mandamus may issue to
compel the trial judge to act. Safety–Kleen Corp. v. Garcia, 945 S.W.2d 268, 269 (Tex. App.—
San Antonio 1997, orig. proceeding). A trial court has no such duty to rule, however, on motions
filed after the court’s plenary power expires because the court no longer has jurisdiction over the
case. In re Cash, No. 06–04–00045–CV, 2004 WL 769473, at *1 (Tex. App.—Texarkana Apr.13,
2004, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) (“ ‘In general, ... [a trial court] does not have a duty to rule on
free-floating motions unrelated to currently pending actions. In fact, it has no jurisdiction to rule
on a motion when it has no plenary jurisdiction coming from an associated case.’ ”).
Here, the underlying case was dismissed and a final judgment signed on September 24,
2018, and the trial court’s plenary power expired before relator mailed the motions at issue to the
trial court for filing. Further, relator’s appeal of the September 24 judgment is pending in this
Court as cause number 05-18-01181-CV. Based on the record before us, we conclude relator has
not shown he is entitled to the relief requested. Accordingly, we deny relator’s petition for writ of
mandamus. See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.8(a) (the court must deny the petition if the court determines
relator is not entitled to the relief sought).
/Ada Brown/
ADA BROWN
JUSTICE
190606F.P05
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