John Fox v. City of El Paso, Texas, Thomas Maguire, William Stern--Appeal from 327th District Court of El Paso County

COURT OF APPEALS

EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

EL PASO, TEXAS

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JOHN FOX, ) No. 08-04-00330-CV

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Appellant, ) Appeal from

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v. ) 327th District Court

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CITY OF EL PASO, TEXAS, ) of El Paso County, Texas

THOMAS J. MAGUIRE, and )

WILLIAM STERN, ) (TC# 2003-4386)

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Appellees. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION

John Fox attempts to appeal from an order denying his motion to dismiss the City Attorney s Office as Representative of the defendants. Finding that the interlocutory order is not appealable, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Fox filed suit against the defendants alleging trespass and negligence actions. The City Attorney s Office filed an answer on behalf of the City and its employees named in the suit, Thomas Maguire, and William Stern. Fox subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the City Attorney s Office as representative of these defendants, asserting that the El Paso County Attorney is constitutionally required to represent the defendants. // The trial court denied the motion and Fox filed a notice of appeal. After reviewing the notice of appeal and the clerk s record, the Court notified Fox that it intended to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the order is not appealable. Fox has filed a reply asserting that he should be allowed to bring an interlocutory appeal because an appeal of the issue after the rendition of a final judgment is an inadequate remedy.

Appellate courts generally have jurisdiction over final judgments and such interlocutory orders as the legislature deems appealable. Tex.Civ.Prac.&Rem.Code Ann. 51.012 (Vernon 1997) and 51.014 (Vernon Supp. 2004-05); Ruiz v. Ruiz, 946 S.W.2d 123, 124 (Tex.App.--El Paso 1997, no writ). The order denying Fox s motion to dismiss the City Attorney s Office is not a final judgment and is not an appealable order under Section 51.014. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

January 20, 2005

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Justice

Before Panel No. 4

Barajas, C.J., Larsen, and McClure, JJ.

(Larsen, J., not participating)