Court Opinion

ID: 9397343
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-05-25 08:11:55.081815+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:19:23.276446
License: Public Domain

In The
                              Court of Appeals
                     Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo

                                    No. 07-23-00075-CV

                         IN THE INTEREST OF T.R., A CHILD

                           On Appeal from the 108th District Court
                                    Potter County, Texas
               Trial Court No. 97,399-E-FM, Honorable Carry Baker, Presiding

                                      May 19, 2023
                            MEMORANDUM OPINION
                 Before QUINN, C.J., and PARKER and DOSS, JJ.
       This appeal emanated from a suit by the Texas Department of Family and

Protective Services to terminate the parental rights of DH to four of her children. TR was

one of them. From that suit, the proceedings involving two of the four children were

severed into a different cause.      Thereafter, the trial court entered its “final” order

terminating the parental relationship between mother and TR in May 2022. Yet, that order

did not adjudicate mother’s rights regarding the remaining child. Thus, the order affecting

TR was not final and appealable. See In re R.R.K., 590 S.W.3d 535, 540 (Tex. 2019)

(stating that an order is final when it disposes of all issues and parties). Nor was it made

final and appealable until the trial court issued its order, on December 21, 2022, severing
the termination involving TR and assigning it an independent cause number, i.e., 97,399-

E-FM. That resulted in mother’s filing her initial notice of appeal on February 22, 2023, a

supplemental notice on March 6, 2023, and a motion for new trial on March 6, 2023.

       Rule of appellate procedure mandates that a notice of appeal in an accelerated

matter be filed within 20 days after the judgment or order is signed. TEX. R. APP. P.

26.1(b); see also In re K.A.F., 160 S.W.3d 923, 927 (Tex. 2005) (reiterating the 20-day

deadline and explaining that same is not extended by one timely moving for a new trial).

The pending appeal is such an accelerated matter. TEX. R. APP. P. 28.4. Thus, the

deadline to file a timely notice in this matter fell on January 10, 2023. As can be seen, all

notices mother filed were late. Because a timely notice of appeal is essential to invoking

appellate jurisdiction, In re C.S., No. 07-17-00329-CV, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 9060, at *2

(Tex. App.—Amarillo Sept. 26, 2017, pet. denied) (mem. op.), we lack jurisdiction over

the appeal. Thus, we dismiss it for want of jurisdiction. TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a).

                                                         Brian Quinn
                                                         Chief Justice

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