Opinion ID: 895305
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: Interlocutory appeals such as this are generally final in the court of appeals. Tex. Gov’t Code § 22.225(b)(3). However, there are exceptions, and, as relevant here, we may review an interlocutory appeal when the intermediate court’s decision conflicts with a prior decision of another court of appeals, or of this Court. Id. §§ 22.001(a)(2), 22.225(c). The standard governing whether two decisions conflict for purposes of interlocutory jurisdiction was broadened by the Legislature in 2003. 3 Stephen F. Austin State Univ. v. Flynn , 228 S.W.3d 653, 656 n.3 (Tex. 2007). Before 2003, two decisions conflicted “when the two are so similar that the decision in one is necessarily conclusive of the decision in the other.” Id. at 656. The current, broader standard grants this Court conflicts jurisdiction when there is “inconsistency in [courts of appeals’] respective decisions that should be clarified to remove unnecessary uncertainty in the law and unfairness to litigants.” Tex. Gov’t Code § 22.225(e). The parties dispute which standard should apply to this case, 4 but we need not decide which governs, because jurisdiction would lie under either standard. The court of appeals in this case held certain City of Houston ordinances “constitute a contract.” 290 S.W.3d at 270. In direct conflict with that holding, the First Court of Appeals has held that “ordinances alone . . . cannot form a contract . . . . The record must evidence a contract in writing between the plaintiffs and the city into which the ordinances can be read.” Overton v. City of Houston , 564 S.W.2d 400, 403–04 (Tex. Civ. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1978, writ ref’d n.r.e.). Here, the two decisions would be conclusive of each other, thus conferring jurisdiction under the old standard, and the inconsistency between the two should be clarified in order to prevent uncertainty and unfairness, thus establishing jurisdiction under the current rule. Thus, we conclude this Court has jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal under Government Code sections 22.001(a)(2) and 22.225(c).