NO. 07-05-0337-CV IN THE COUR

T OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVEN TH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

AT AMARILLO PANEL C NOVEMBER 8, 2005

______________________________ IN THE MATTER OF D.L.C.

_________________________________ FROM THE CO UNTY COURT OF SW ISHER COUN TY; NO. 387; HON ORABLE HAROLD KEETER, JUDG E

_______________________________ Before QUINN, C.J., and REAVIS an d HANCOCK, JJ.
ON ABA TEMENT AND REMAND Appellant

D.L.C., a ju venile, appe als the tri al court’s Order of Adjudication and Dispositi on (TYC Commit tment) whi ch found that D .L.C. h ad engaged i n delinquent conduct and placed him with the Texas Yo uth Commission for an indeterminate sente nce notto exceed hi s 21 st birthday. D.L.C. ti mely filed a no tice of appeal on S eptember 23, 2005. By letter , dated September 26, this cour

t notified D.L.C . that

the $125 filing fee had notbeen paid. In r

esponse, on October 10, D.L.C. filed with this court Appell ant’s Motion for Extension of Tim e to File Appeal Fee and an Af fidavit of Inability to Pay Costs.1 Furt her reference to Texa s Rules of Appell ate Procedure w ill be by reference to “Rule __.” 2 Sectio n 56.01( b) of th e Texa s Fami ly C ode pro vide s that the re quir eme nt s governi ng a juvenil e appeal are as in civi l cases ge nerally. T EX . F AM . C ODE A NN . § 56.01(b) (Vernon 2002). TexasRule of App ellate Proc edure 20.1(c) (1) and (3) 1 requires that an affidavit of indigence befiled in the trial court with or before the n otic e ofappe al, b ut al lows the a ppellate court to extend the deadline if, w ithin 15 days of the filing of the notice of appeal, the appellant files a mo tion to extend time that comp lies with Rule 10.5(b). We re this a regular appeal, we wo uld be compelled to find that, because appellant had failed to comply with R ule 20.1(c)(1 ) and (3), hewas not ent itled to proceed on appeal w ithout advance payment of costs

. See Holt v . F .F. Enters. , 990 S.W.2d 756, 759 (Tex.App.–Amarillo 1998, pet. denied). However, the Texas Supreme Court has held that Rule 20.1 does not apply to appeals under

the Juvenile Justice Cod e. See In the Matter of K.C.A. , 36 S.W.3d 501, 502 (Tex. 200 0). Rather, the provisions of the Texas Family Code apply and a fin ding of indigence can be predicated on either a hear ing or an affidavit by the child’s

parent. Id . at 503. The appropriat e forum for such a determination is the trial court. In th e Ma tter

of L .P. , 51 S.W.3d 855, 855 (Tex.App.–Hous ton [1 st Dist.] 2001, no pet.) (cit ing In the Matter of K.C.A. , 36 S.W .3d at 503). Therefore, we abate the appeal and remand the matter to the tr ial court. Upon remand, the judge of the court shall immed iately cause notice to be given of and conduct a hearing to determine wh ether the juvenile is i ndigent.3

In support of its d etermination, th e trial court shall prepare and file written fi ndings of fact and conclusi ons of law and cause them to be inc luded i n a supplemental clerk’s record. The hearing pr oceedings sh all be transc ribed and incl uded in a s up plemental reporter’s record. These supplemental re cords shall be submitted tothe clerk of this court no later than D ecember 5, 2005.

Per Curiam