Opinion
No. 01-09-00314-CV
Opinion issued August 13, 2009.
On Appeal from the 315th District Court Harris County, Texas, Trial Court Cause No. 0705518J.
Panel consists of Justices JENNINGS, ALCALA, and HIGLEY.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellee, Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), has filed a motion to dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. We grant the motion.
DFPS has attached to its motion, a certified copy of a July 13, 2007 order appointing it as temporary managing conservator of A.M.F., a minor child and a certified copy of the order being appealed, the decree for termination, signed by the trial court on January 22, 2009. Appeals of decrees such as this one, rendered under subchapter E of Chapter 263 of the Texas Family Code, are governed by the rules of the supreme court for accelerated appeals in civil cases and the procedures provided by Family Code section 263.405. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 263.405(a) (Vernon 2008). The Supreme Court's rule for accelerated appeals requires that the notice of appeal from judgments in such cases be filed within 20 days after the judgment is signed. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(b); In re K.A.F., 160 S.W.3d 923, 928 (Tex. 2005).
Here, appellant, Lisa Michelle Allen, did not file her notice of appeal until April 3, 2009, well after the 20-day deadline. Accordingly, we grant DFPS's motion, and we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.