Opinion
No. 06-03-00052-CV.
Date Submitted: April 15, 2003.
Date Decided: April 16, 2003.
On Appeal from the 115th Judicial District Court, Upshur County, Texas, Trial Court No. 350-01.
Dismissed for Want of Jurisdiction.
Before MORRISS, C.J., ROSS and CARTER, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Russell Lane, Jr., has filed an appeal from the termination of his parental rights to B.R.L. The order of termination in this case was signed on January 13, 2003. An appeal from an order terminating parental rights is an accelerated appeal and is subject to the requirements of Tex.R.App.P. 26.1(b). See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 109.002 (Vernon 2002). Rule 26.1(b) provides that, in an accelerated appeal, "the notice of appeal must be filed within 20 days after the judgment or order is signed."
Because the appeal of an order terminating parental rights is accelerated, the notice of appeal is due twenty days after the judgment is signed, and a motion for new trial does not extend the filing period. In re T.W., 89 S.W.3d 641, 642 (Tex.App.-Amarillo 2002, no pet.).
Accordingly, the notice of appeal was due no later than February 3, 2003. The notice of appeal was filed on March 28, 2003.
We are to construe the Rules of Appellate Procedure reasonably and liberally so that the right to appeal is not lost by imposing requirements not absolutely necessary to effect the purpose of a rule. Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 616-17 (Tex. 1997). However, we are prohibited from enlarging the scope of our jurisdiction by enlarging the time for perfecting an appeal in a civil case in a manner not provided for by rule. Tex.R.App.P. 2; In re T.W., 89 S.W.3d 641, 642 (Tex.App.-Amarillo 2002, no pet.); see generally Denton County v. Huther, 43 S.W.3d 665 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2001, no pet.) (dismissing accelerated appeal for want of jurisdiction where appellants failed to file notice of appeal within twenty days after date order was signed).
The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked by the timely filing of a notice of appeal. In the absence of such, we have no jurisdiction to hear the appeal, and we have no choice but to dismiss. We dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.