Opinion
NO. 14-18-00327-CV
05-22-2018
IN THE INTEREST OF D.I.B., A CHILD
On Appeal from the 313th District Court Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 2016-03766J
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This is an appeal from a final decree terminating the parent-child relationship between appellant A.R. and his child, D.I.B. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 161.001(b) (West Supp. 2017). Appellee is the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
The final decree was signed February 22, 2018. Appellant filed a motion for new trial February 26, 2018. Appellant filed a notice of appeal April 20, 2018.
A notice of appeal in parental termination case must be filed within twenty days after the judgment is signed. Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b), 28.4(a)(2)(A). The deadline may be extended by fifteen days if, within that fifteen-day period, appellant files the notice of appeal in the trial court and a motion for extension of time in the court of appeals. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Unlike in a non-accelerated appeal, a timely-filed motion for new trial does not extend the deadline to file the notice of appeal in an accelerated appeal. In re K.A.F., 160 S.W.3d 923, 926-27 (Tex. 2005).
Appellant's notice of appeal was due March 14, 2018, but was not filed until April 20, 2018, outside the fifteen-day grace period. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b). When an appeal is not timely perfected, the court lacks jurisdiction, and must dismiss the appeal. See Baker v. Baker, 469 S.W.3d 269, 272 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2015, no pet.).
On May 1, 2018, we notified the parties that we would dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction if no party demonstrated, by May 11, 2018, meritorious grounds for retaining the appeal. Appellant filed no response.
We dismiss the appeal.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Boyce, Christopher, and Busby.