No Plenary Power, No Stay

A contentious eviction case was resolved with a straightforward jurisdictional principle in In re Saving Grace #2, LLC:

Here, the county court’s final judgment was signed on September 1, 2022. No appropriate motion to extend the trial court’s plenary jurisdiction was filed within 30 days of the final judgment. Thus, the county court’s plenary jurisdiction expired on October 1, 2022. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 329b(d). The county court’s stay order was entered on May 19, 2023—well past that deadline. Because the county court may not issue a stay order after plenary power expires, see Tex. R. Civ. P. 329b(f) (explaining the limited actions a court may take after plenary power expires), we conclude that the stay order issued seven months after plenary power expired is void.

No. 05-23-00745-CV (Oct. 13, 2023).