## In The Court of Appeals Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo

No. 07 - 16 - 00046 - CV IN THE INTEREST OF A .M.F., A CHILD

No. 07 - 16 - 00047 - CV IN THE INTEREST OF A . L.P . A. , A CHILD On Appeal from the 222nd District Court Deaf Smith County, Texas Trial Court No s . DR

- 05H - 132A & DR

- 10K - 147A , Honorable Roland D. Saul, Presiding 

### May 12 , 2016 MEMORANDUM OPINION Before CAMPBELL and HANCOCK and PIRTLE, JJ. Appellant, S.P
. , 1 attempts to appeal order s terminating her parental rights to her child ren , A.M.F
. and A.L.P
. A. We dismiss the appeal s for want of jurisdiction and because S.P . failed to comply with the Court’s order requiring a written explanation for h er late notice s of appeal. On October 14, 2015, t he associate judge signed two order s terminating S.P
. ’s parental rights in suits brought by the Department of Family and Protective Services
.

1 See T EX . R. A PP . P. 9.8(b).2

S.P. timely requested a de novo hearing before the referring court in both cases. See T EX . F AM . C ODE A NN . § 201.015(a) (West Supp. 2015 )
. The de novo hearing was set for December 21. At the commencement of the hearing , however, S.P. withdrew her request s for de novo review and ask ed the trial court to affirm the associate judge’s ruling s . On January 7, 2016, t he trial court signed order s confirming the associate judge’s order s of termination. In a child protection case , the proposed order or judgment of the associate judge becomes the order or judgment of the referring court by operation of la w without ratification by the referring court if a request for a de novo hearing is not timely filed or the right to a de novo hearing is waived
. T EX . F AM . C ODE A NN . § 201.2041(a) (West 2014 )
. Although S.P. timely requested a de novo hearing, she withdre w her request s on December 21, waiving her right to de novo review by the referring court
. Accordingly , the associate judge ’s order s of termination became the order s of the referring court on December 21 by operation of law. S ee id. ; In re G.B. II , No. 10 - 10 - 00244 - CV, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 9471, at *2 (Tex. App.
— Waco Nov. 24, 2010, order) (holding that an associate judge’s termination order became the final or der of the referring court on the date the appellant expressly waived the right to a de novo hear ing under Section 201.2041(a) )
. Ratification of the orders by the referring court was unnecessary, and the appellate timetables began to run on December 21. Consequently, S.P.’s notice s of appeal w ere due by January 11, 2016. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 26.1(b). S.P . filed her notice s of appeal on J anuary 21, but did not file a motion requesting an extension of time to file the notice s of appeal. As such, S.P .’s3

notice s of appeal failed to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court. See Verburgt v. Dorner , 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.3, the court may extend the time to file a notice of appeal if, within 15 days after the deadline expires, the appellant files the notice of appeal along with a motion requesting an extension that reasonably explains the need for an extension. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 26.3, 10.5(b). Although a motion for extension is implied when the appellant tenders a notice of appeal within 15 days after the notice deadline, it is still necessary f or the appellant to reasonably explain the need for an extension. See Verburgt , 959 S.W.2d at 617; Jones v. City of Houston , 976 S.W.2d 676, 677 (Tex. 1998). Because S
. P . filed her notice s of appeal within 15 days after the deadline, a motion for extensio n was implied. However, by letter dated April 26, 2016, the Court ordered S.P . to file a written response by May 9 explaining why her notice s of appeal were filed late. The Court also informed S.P . that failure to comply with the Court’s directive would result in dismissal of her appeal s . S.P . did not respond to the Court’s directive for a written explanation. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal s for want of jurisdiction and because S.P
. failed to comply with a court order. T EX . R. A PP . P. 42.3(a), (c).
Mackey K. Hancock Justice