C OURT OF A PPEALS FOR THE
F IRST D ISTRICT OF T EXAS AT H OUSTON

A BATEMENT O RDER

Appellate case name: In the Interest of S.H., a Child

A ppellate case number: 01

- 22

- 00 255

- CV

Trial court case number: 2020

- 02 030 J

Trial court: 3 13 th District Court of Harris County

Appellant, father , has filed a notice of appeal of the trial court’s order terminating h is parental rights to h is child , S.H

. Appellant’s court

- appointed counsel on appeal has filed a motion to withdraw from representi ng appellant and an Anders brief in which she concludes that “ [b]ased

on [her] professional evaluation of the record,

. . . there are no arguable grounds for appeal and that [ appellant ’s] appeal is wholly frivolous.” See Anders v. California , 386 U.S. 738 , 744 (1967);

In re A.M

. , 495 S.W.3d 573

, 582 (Tex. App.

— Houston [1st Dist.] 20 16 , pet. denied ).

When we receive an Anders brief from an appellant’s appointed attorney who asserts that no arguable grounds for appeal exist, we must determine that issue independently by conducting

our own review of the entire record. In re C.S. , No. 01

- 16

- 00152

- CV, 2016 WL 4408980, at *1 (Tex. App.

— Houston [1st Dist.] Aug. 16, 2016, pet. denied ) (mem. op.). If we determine that arguable grounds for appeal exist, we abate the appeal and remand the case to the trial court to allow the appointed attorney to withdraw and for the trial court to ap point another attorney to present all arguable grounds for appeal. In re C.S. , 2016 WL 4408980, at *1 (citing Bledsoe v.

State , 178 S.W.3d 824, 826

– 27 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) ) ; see also In re Schulman , 252 S.W.3d 403, 407 n.12 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) (stati ng arguable ground for appeal is one that could “conceivably persuade the court”).

Here, we have reviewed the appellate record and appointed counsel’s Anders brief and conclude that the appeal warrant s further development by new appellate counsel on the following arguable grounds for appeal: whether the evidence is legally and factually in sufficient to support the trial court’s finding that termination of appellant’s parental rights was in the best interest of

S.H. 1 See T EX

. F AM

. C ODE A NN

. § 161.001(b)(2) ; see also Stafford v. State , 813 S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991) (“After an attorney files a proper Anders brief (which should be filed with a request for withdrawal from the case)

. . . , the Court of Appeals

. . . m ust conduct its own

1 New a ppellate counsel is not prevented from briefing any other arguable grounds for appeal.2

investigation of the record to discover if there are arguable grounds. If grounds are deemed arguable, the Court of Appeals then must abate the appeal and remand the case to the trial court with orders to appoint other counsel to prese nt those and any other grounds that might support the appeal .”)

. Accordingly, we abate the appeal and remand the case to the trial court with instructions to appoint new counsel to represent appellant on appeal and have a supplemental clerk’s record

cont aining that appointment filed in this appeal with the Clerk of this Court no later than 10 days

from the date of this order

.

Counsel’s appellant’s brief will be due 20 days from the date that counsel is appointed.

See T EX

. R. A PP

. P. 28.4 (“Accelerated Appeals in Parental Termination and Child Protection Cases”), 38.6(a). Because th is is a termination case, th is Court is required to bring th is ap peal to final disposition within 180 days of April 4 , 2022 , the date the notice of appeal w as filed in this proceeding, so far as reasonably possible. See T EX

. R. J UD

. A DMIN

. 6.2, reprinted in T EX

. G OV ’ T

. C ODE A NN ., tit. 2, subtit. F app. Accordingly

, no extensions of time will be granted absent extraordinary circumstances. See T EX

. R. A PP

. P. 38.6(d). Counsel who agrees to handle th is appeal should do so only if he or she can satisfy the briefin g deadline s

.

The appeal is abated, treated as a closed cas e, and removed from this Court’s active docket.

It is so ORDERED.

Judge’s signature:

_____ /s/ Julie Countiss

__________

Acting for the Court

Panel consists of: Justices Goodman, Countiss, and Farris.

Goodman, J., dissenting without opinion.

Date: ___ August 25, 2022

_____