# Fourth Court of Appeals

San Antonio, Texas

August 22, 2019

No. 04

- 19

- 00532

- CV

IN THE INTEREST OF N.J.L., J.B.L., AND I.J.L.,

From the 166th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas

Trial Court No. 2013EM504476
Honorable Mar y Lou Alvarez, Judge Presiding



### O R D E R

This appeal arises from the Attorney General’s motion for enforce ment of a 2013 order for child support and medical support. Trial was held June 10, 2019, and resulted in a n O rder signed June 13, 2019. In the Order, the trial court found J.M.L. , the father of the children, is in arrears on child support in the amount of $5,292.62 and in arrears on medical support in the amount of $90. 15

. The court rendered judgment against J.M.L. on the arrearages

, ordered J.M.L.
to pay $ 1,500.00 by August 28, 2019, and set forth a schedule for payment of the remainder of the judgment.

The trial court also found J.M.L. in contempt for failure to make court

- ordered child support and medical support payments. The court rendered a judgm e nt of punitive contempt, ordering J.M.L. committed to the county j ail for a period of 180 days for each of eight violation s, to run concurrently. The court also rendered a judgment of coercive contempt, order ing J.M.L. committed to the county jail until he p ays $1,500 in arrearages. The court deferred
commencement of the punitive and coercive commitment until August 28, 2019.

J.M.L. filed a notice of appeal o n August 12, 2019, stating he “desires to appeal all portions of the judgment.” The clerk’s record has been filed, and our review of the record raises questions regarding our jurisdiction over this appeal.

With respect to the contempt portions of the Order, “[a] ppellate courts do not have jurisdiction to review contempt proceedings on direct ap peal.” In re T.L.K. , 90 S.W.3d 833, 841 (Tex. App.

– San Antonio 2002, no pet.)

. Contempt orders may be reviewed by an application for a writ of habeas corpus if the contemnor’s liberty has been restrained, or by a petition for a writ

of mandamus if the con temnor has not been confined or otherwise had his liberty restrained. In re Long , 984 S.W.2d 623, 625 (Tex. 1999) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam) (“Contempt orders that do not involve confinement cannot be reviewed by writ of habeas corpus, and the only

po ssible relief is a writ of mandamus.”); Rosser v. Squier , 902 S.W.2d 962, 962 (Tex. 1995); In

re Rivas

- Luna , 528 S.W.3d 167, 169 (Tex. App.

— El Paso, 2017, orig. proceeding) (holding thatcontempt order, suspended on condition that contemnor pay child suppo rt arrearages and

otherwise comply with trial court's orders should be challenged by mandamus)

.

With respect to the part of t he Order rendering judgment for support arrearages , it appears the notice of appeal was not timely filed. The Order was si gn ed J une 13, 2019 . No motion that would have extended the appellate timetable was filed. See T EX

. R. C IV

. P. 329b(g);

T EX

. R. A PP

. P . 26.1(a). Thus, the notice of appeal was due July 15, 2019, or a motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal was due fifteen days later on July 30, 2019

. See

T EX

. R. A PP

. P. 26.1, 26.3. J.M.L. did not file a motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal and he did not file his notice of appeal until August 2 , after the time to do so had expired

.

A timely notice of appeal must be filed in order to invoke this court’s jurisdiction. See Sweed v. Nye , 323 S.W.3d 873 (Tex. 2010 ). Once the period for filing a motion for extension of
time u nder Rule 26.3 has passed, a party can no longer invoke the appellate court’s jurisdiction. See Verburgt v. Dorner , 959 S.W.2d 615, 615 (1997)

.

We therefore order appellant J.M.L. file a response by September 6 , 2 019 , showing cause why this appeal should n ot be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. If appellant fails to satisfactorily respond within the time provided, the appeal will be dismissed.

All other deadlines in this matter are suspended until further order of the court.

_________________________________ Luz Elena D. Chapa, Justice

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set m y hand and affixed the seal of the said
court on this 22nd day of August, 2019

.

___________________________________ KEITH E. HOTTLE

, Clerk of Court