## In t he Court of Appeals Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06

- 24

- 00023

- CV

MICHAEL FRED HOUSTON , Appellant

V. THE STATE OF TEXAS , Appellee

On Appeal from the 124th District Court Gregg County, Texas Trial Court No. 46857

- B

Bef ore Stevens , C.J., van Cleef and Rambin , JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice van Cleef2 

### ME MORANDUM OPINION A Gregg County jury convicted Michael Fred Houston of aggravated robbery in 2019. The jury assessed a sentence of life imprisonment, and the tr ial court imposed that sentence on April 18, 2019, and ordered Houston to pay $249.00 in court costs. There is no indication in either the judgment of conviction or the bill of costs that the trial court imposed a fine or ordered restitution. The only as sessment in either the judgment or the bill of costs is the $249.00 assessment for court costs. On March 1, 2024, the trial court signed an o rder to w ithdraw f unds , instructing the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to withdraw $10,039.68 from H ouston’s inmate trust account. On March 28, 2024, Houston noticed this appeal from that o rder to

w ithdraw f

unds

. “Section 501.014(e) of the [Texas] Government Code govern s the withdrawal of funds from an inmate’s account for the recovery of court fees and costs assessed against the inmate.”
Brown v. State , 594 S.W.3d 609, 610 (Tex. App.

— Waco 2019, no pet.) (citing T EX
. G OV ’ T C ODE A NN
. § 501.014(e)). “Proceedings under se ction 501.014(e) to recover court fees and costs assessed against inmates ‘are ci vil in natu re and not part of the underlying criminal case.’” Id. (quoting Harrell v. State , 286 S.W.3d 315, 316 (Tex. 2009)). “ In civil cases, unless specifically authorize d by statute, appeals may be taken only from final orders or judgments. ” Id. (ci ting
T EX
. C IV
. P RAC
. & R EM
. C ODE A NN
. § 51.012; CMH Homes v. Perez , 340 S.W.3d 444, 447 (Tex. 2011) )

. “A lthough calle d an ‘ order, ’ an ‘ order ’ to withdraw funds is not a final, appealable order; it is a notice to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to withdraw fu nds from an inmate ’ s3

account under section 501.014(e). ” Id. ; see Jewell v. State , No. 06

- 10

- 00114

- CV, 201 1 WL 1642769, at *1 n.1 (Tex. App.

— Texarkana Apr. 29, 2011, no pet.) (mem. op.)

. “ On the other hand, an inmate may appeal from a trial court ’ s final order denying the inmate ’ s motion to modify or rescind the withdrawal. ” Brown , 594 S.W.3d at 610 (citing Ramirez v. State , 318 S.W.3d 906, 908 (Tex. App.

— Waco 2010, no pet.) ( “Only when [the withdrawal notification is] properly challenged and denied relie f is there a trial court order that is final from which the inmate

. . . can appeal.” (alteration in origina l) ) )

. As we stated in Jewell , “ The [ o rder to w ithdraw f unds] is not i ts elf an appealable order, it is only a notification that the legislatively req uired withdrawal is to occur. The appealable order is the trial court ’ s ruling on a motion to rescind. ” Jewell , 2011 WL 1642769, at *1 (footnote s omitted)

. Here, Houston did not take the necessary step of filing and obtaining the trial court’s ruling on a motion to rescind. Rather, he attempted to appeal directly from the trial court’s order
to withdraw funds. Be cause that order is not final or appealable, we lack jurisdict ion over this appeal. See id. We dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Charles van Cleef Justice Date Submitted: May 20 , 2024 Date Decided: May 21 , 2024