Court Opinion

ID: 9889289
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-08 07:10:51.869357+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:38:22.427099
License: Public Domain

Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed October 3, 2023

                                      In The
                    Fourteenth Court of Appeals

                              NO. 14-23-00627-CV

                                 D.S., Appellant

                                        V.

  DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES, Appellee

                    On Appeal from the 314th District Court
                             Harris County, Texas
                      Trial Court Cause No. 2022-00488J

                          MEMORANDUM OPINION

      This is an attempted appeal from a final order of termination signed May 25,
2023. D.S., the respondent mother, filed a notice of appeal on August 24, 2023.

      An appeal from an order terminating the parent-child relationship is
accelerated and governed by the rules for accelerated appeals in civil cases. Tex.
Fam. Code Ann. §§ 109.002(a), 263.405(a). In an accelerated appeal, the notice of
appeal must be filed within 20 days after the appealable judgment or order is
signed. Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b). Moreover, neither a motion for new trial, a request
for findings of fact and conclusions of law, nor any other post-trial motion in the
trial court will extend the deadline for filing a notice of appeal under Texas Rule of
Appellate Procedure 26.1(b). Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 263.405(c); In re K.A.F., 160
S.W.3d 923, 928 (Tex. 2005); see Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b).

      Appellant’s notice of appeal was not filed timely. A motion to extend time is
necessarily implied when an appellant, acting in good faith, files a notice of appeal
beyond the time allowed by rule 26.1, but within the fifteen-day grace period
provided by rule 26.3 for filing a motion to extend time. See Verburgt v. Dorner,
959 S.W.2d 615, 617-18 (Tex. 1997) (construing the predecessor to Rule 26).
Appellant’s notice of appeal was not filed within the fifteen-day period provided
by rule 26.3.

      On September 11, 2023, notification was transmitted to all parties the appeal
was subject to dismissal without further notice for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R.
App. P. 42.3(a). Appellant filed a response on September 21, 2023, addressing the
underlying facts of this case. However, this response does not show meritorious
grounds for continuing the appeal. This court does not have jurisdiction to consider
any appeal unless our jurisdiction has been timely invoked. In re R.B.M., 338 S.W.
3d 755, 758 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2011, no pet.). Although appellant
may pursue an out-of-time appeal on these grounds in a higher court, we may not
suspend the rules to alter the time to perfect a civil appeal. See id.

      Accordingly, appellant’s motion to extend time to file a notice of appeal is
denied and the appeal is dismissed.

                                    PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Jewell, Spain, and Wilson.

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