IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT NASHVILLE

Assigned May 2, 2011

STATE OF TENNESSEE EX REL. JACQUELINE D. DAVIS v. JAMES

(JASON) McCLAIN

Appeal from the Juvenile Court for Maury County

No. 09-JV-855 George L. Lovell, Judge

No. M2011-00834-COA-R3-CV - Filed May 3, 2011

This is an appeal from an Order Establishing Parentage and Support entered by the Juvenile

Court for Maury County on June 1, 2010. Because the appellant did not file his notice of

appeal within the time permitted by Tenn. R. App. P. 4, we dismiss the appeal.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Appeal Dismissed

FRANK G. CLEMENT, JR.,J., ANDY D. BENNETT, J., and RICHARD H. DINKINS, J.

Jason McClain, Columbia, Tennessee, Pro Se.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter, and Stuart F. Wilson-Patton, Attorney

General’s Office, for the State of Tennessee.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

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Tenn. Ct. App. R. 10 states:

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This Court, with the concurrence of all judges participating in the case, may affirm, reverse

or modify the actions of the trial court by memorandum opinion when a formal opinion

would have no precedential value. When a case is decided by memorandum opinion it shall

be designated “MEMORANDUM OPINION,” shall not be published, and shall not be cited

or relied on for any reason in any unrelated case.
On September 9, 2009, the mother filed a Petition to Establish Parentage in the

Juvenile Court for Maury County. The putative father failed to appear, plead or defend, and

the trial court entered an Order Establishing Parentage and Support on June 1, 2010. On

August 23, 2010, the mother filed a Petition to Enforce Child Support. On February 16, 2011,

the trial court granted the father’s request for a continuance “to allow additional time to file

motion regarding paternity as respondent was declared the father by default order.” It does

not appear the father filed a motion as suggested by the trial court. However, on April 5,

2011, the father filed a notice of appeal from the June 1, 2010 order.

Tenn. R. App. P. 4(a) requires that a notice of appeal be filed with and received by the

trial court clerk within thirty (30) days after entry of the order appealed. The father’s notice

of appeal was filed more than ten months after entry of the order appealed. Consequently, on

April 14, 2011, this court ordered the father to show cause within ten days why his appeal

should not be dismissed for failure to file a timely notice of appeal. The father failed to

respond.

The thirty day time limit for filing a notice of appeal is mandatory and jurisdictional.

Albert v. Frye, 145 S.W.3d 526, 528 (Tenn.2004); Binkley v. Medling, 117 S.W.3d 252, 255

(Tenn. 2003). This court can neither waive nor extend the time period. Tenn. R. App. P. 2

and 21(b); Flautt & Mann v. Council of City of Memphis, 285 S.W.3d 856, 869 (Tenn. Ct.

App. 2008); Jefferson v. Pneumo Serv. Corp. 699 S.W.2d 181, 184 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1985).

The failure to file a timely notice of appeal deprives this court of jurisdiction to hear the

matter. Flautt & Mann v. Council of City of Memphis, 285 S.W.3d at 869.

The appeal is hereby dismissed for failure to file a timely notice of appeal. The costs

are taxed to the father and his surety for which execution, if necessary, may issue.

PER CURIAM

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