PER CURIAM
William Terence Duncan was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated in December of 1998. Thereafter, a hearing was held at the State Office of Administrative Hearings ("S.O.A.H.") in Tyler, Smith County. This hearing concerned the possible suspension of Duncan's driver's license resulting from his D.W.I. arrest. The Administrative Judge granted the Texas Department of Public Safety (the "T.D.P.S.") the authority to suspend Duncan's license. An appeal of that decision was timely filed in the County Court at Law, Smith County. Subsequent to the filing of the appeal, the T.D.P.S. filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, to which Duncan responded. The court, without argument or hearing, granted the T.D.P.S.'s motion, and denied Duncan's motion for new trial. We will affirm the trial court's dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.
Section 524.041 of the Texas Transportation Code allows for an appeal of any S.O.A.H. Order and provides procedural rules for that appeal, as follows:
(a) A person whose driver's license suspension is sustained may appeal the decision by filing a petition not later
than the 30
th day after the date the administrative law judge's decision is final. The administrative law judge's final decision is immediately appealable without the requirement of a motion for rehearing.
jurisdiction is a nonwaivable defect, and can be raised at any point of an appeal, by any litigant or by the court sua sponte, regardless of whether the complaint was preserved in the trial court. H.E. Butt Grocery Co. v. Bay, Inc., 808 S.W.2d 678, 679 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1991, writ denied).
Attached to its Appellee's brief, the T.D.P.S. provided this Court with a copy of the Administrative Decision in the original proceeding before the Administrative Judge. In that document, the findings of fact clarify that Duncan was arrested, after refusing a breath or blood test, in Van Zandt County. Although this evidence was not offered at the trial court level, and is not in the appellate record, it is plainly cognizable by this Court. See Roach v. Roach, 672 S.W.2d 524, 533 (Tex.App.-Amarillo 1984, no writ) ("Each court of appeals may, on affidavit or otherwise, as the court may determine, ascertain the matters of fact that are necessary to the proper exercise of its jurisdiction."). From the reading of the Administrative Decision, the County Court at Law in Smith County did not have jurisdiction to hear the case. We hold, therefore, that the trial court did not err when it dismissed Duncan's petition for lack of jurisdiction. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.