The following are summaries of selected civil opinions issued by the Third Court of Appeals during September 2024. The summaries are an overview; please review the entire opinion. Subsequent histories are current as of October 9, 2024.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Court affirms where party fails to rebut presumption of sufficient notice of a hearing.
St. George Affordable Auto, LLC d/b/a Skyline Motors v. Tex. Dep’t of Motor Vehicles, No. 03-23-00242-CV (Tex. App.—Austin Sept. 6, 2024, no pet. h.) (mem. op.).
Department issued notices of violations, seeking a monetary penalty and revocation of Skyline’s license. Department sought several continuances of the originally-set SOAH hearing to continue negotiations. Ultimately, Skyline failed to attend the reset hearing. The ALJ granted Department’s motion to dismiss, and Department revoked Skyline’s license and assessed a penalty. Department found that Skyline received legally-sufficient notice of the hearing. Department denied Skyline’s unverified motion for rehearing. In its suit for judicial review, Skyline argued that the notice finding was not supported by substantial evidence. The court of appeals noted that the finding is presumed supported by substantial evidence unless Skyline rebuts it.