Carlos Tello v. Office of the Attorney General, Child-Support Division

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-22-00803-CV

Carlos Tello, Appellant

v.

Office of the Attorney General, Child-Support Division, Appellee

FROM THE 53RD DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY NO. D-1-AG-21-000470, THE HONORABLE MADELEINE CONNOR, JUDGE PRESIDING

MEMORANDUM OPINION

PER CURIAM

Appellant Carlos Tello has filed a motion challenging the trial court’s order, signed on December 9, 2023, sustaining the Office of the Attorney General’s contest to his statement of inability to afford payment of court costs. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 145(g)(1). Having reviewed the motion and the record, we cannot conclude that the trial court’s order constitutes an abuse of discretion.1 See Basaldua v. Hadden, 298 S.W.3d 238, 241 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2009, no pet.) (reviewing trial court’s order sustaining contest to indigency under abuse-of-discretion standard); see also Bui v. Beck & Co. Real Estate Servs., Inc., No. 03-16-00882-CV,

1 Tello previously sought review of the trial court’s oral ruling on the challenge to his statement of inability to pay court costs. Tello v. Office of the Attorney Gen., No. 03-22-00668- CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 8990, at *1 (Tex. App.—Austin Dec. 8, 2022, no pet.) (mem. op.). We concluded that we could not review the merits of the trial court’s decision in the absence of a signed order in compliance with Rule 145, subsection (f), and at that time, no such order had been signed. Id. at *2. As a result, we dismissed the cause for want of jurisdiction. Id. After the trial court signed an order in compliance with subsection (f), Tello filed this new action.

2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 476, at *1 (Tex. App.—Austin Jan. 19, 2017, no pet.) (mem. op.) (per curiam) (same). Accordingly, we deny Tello’s motion. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 145(g)(4). Before Justices Baker, Smith, and Jones* Filed: March 31, 2023

* Before J. Woodfin Jones, Chief Justice (Retired), Third Court of Appeals, sitting by assignment. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 74.003(b).