The opinion
Opinion issued November 9, 2017
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
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NO. 01-17-00786-CV
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KLEIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellant
V.
THOMAS RICE, JR. AND BETSY RICE, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS NEXT
FRIEND OF PATRICK R., A MINOR, Appellees
On Appeal from the 11th District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Case No. 2017-67145
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant, Klein Independent School District (“KISD”), appealed from the
trial court’s interlocutory order, signed on October 11, 2017, granting a temporary
restraining order against KISD. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(b). On October 30, 2017,
appellant filed an unopposed motion to dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction,
contending that this appeal was rendered moot after the appellees filed a notice of
nonsuit in the trial court. See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.1(a)(5), 10.3(a)(2), 42.1(a)(1).
KISD attached the appellees’ notice of nonsuit, which was filed on October 30, 2017,
noting that the parties had settled the matter and there were no affirmative claims for
relief by KISD. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 162.
“A nonsuit ‘renders the merits of the nonsuited case moot.’” RSL–3B–IL, Ltd.
v. The Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., No. 01-13-00933-CV, 2014 WL 3107663, at *3
(Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] July 8, 2014, pet. dism’d) (quoting Travelers Ins.
v. Joachim, 315 S.W.3d 860, 862 (Tex. 2010)). “Appellate courts are prohibited
from deciding moot controversies.” Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n v. Jones, 1
S.W.3d 83, 86 (Tex. 1999). Thus, we must dismiss this case because we lack
jurisdiction over this appeal after the nonsuit was filed. See RSL–3B–IL, Ltd., 2014
WL 3107663, at *3.
Accordingly, we grant KISD’s motion and dismiss the appeal for want of
jurisdiction as moot. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f). We dismiss any other
pending motions as moot.
PER CURIAM
Panel consists of Justices Keyes, Brown, and Lloyd.
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