Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of February 17, 2020.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Johnson v. Simmons, No. 02-19-00071-CV (Feb. 20, 2020) (Gabriel, J., joined by Sudderth, C.J., and Kerr, J.).

Held: The Legislature did not intend for Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 107(h)—which provides that no default judgment shall be granted unless proof of service has been on file with the clerk of court for ten days, exclusive of the day of filing and the day of judgment—to apply to family violence protective orders.  Section 85.006(a) of the Family Code simply requires that prior to the entry of a default family violence protective order a respondent be served with a copy of the application for protective order and be given notice of the hearing on the application for protective order.  Because Appellant was served with the application and notice of the hearing five days before the hearing, the trial court did not err by entering the default family violence protective order.