Opinion
06-24-00048-CV
07-30-2024
IN THE INTEREST OF F.S., A CHILD
On Appeal from the County Court at Law Bowie County, Texas Trial Court No. 23C0251-CCL
Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.
ORDER
Father appeals from the termination of his parental rights to F.S. The reporter's record was filed on May 20, 2024, and the clerk's record was filed on May 31, 2024, making the appellant's brief originally due on June 20, 2024. Father was granted two extensions of his briefing deadline, and when the last extension was granted, we informed Father's counsel that further extension requests would not be granted. Nonetheless, Father's counsel has filed a third extension request seeking another fourteen days to file Father's brief. To date, Father's counsel has had sixty days to prepare and file Father's brief.
In Father's counsel's most recent motion, he informs us:
The Attorney's trial schedule has to take priority over this brief. Attorney for Applicant has been scheduled in multiple contested hearings, multiple hearings for criminal, probate and family law cases as well as multiple jury trials all of which have precluded Appellant's counsel from completion of the brief. Additionally, Appellant is currently in a CPS termination hearing and is unsure when that will conclude.
We recognize that circumstances may, from time to time, prevent an attorney from meeting certain deadlines. As a result, we are typically generous in granting extensions of briefing deadlines. However, this is an accelerated parental-rights termination appeal, and Father's rights and resolution of the issues involved in this appeal should be among counsel's highest priorities. The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure give the parties twenty days to prepare and file briefs in accelerated appeals. Counsel has had three times that amount and has asked for more.
In light of the foregoing, we abate this matter to the trial court for a hearing to determine whether good cause exists to remove Father's currently appointed counsel from his appointment and to appoint new appellate counsel to represent Father on appeal. Should the trial court determine that good cause exists, then the court is free to remove currently appointed counsel and to appoint new counsel to zealously represent Father on appeal. Newly appointed counsel would be required to prepare and file Father's appellate brief within the twenty-day deadline established by the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. Should the trial court determine that good cause does not exist to remove Father's currently appointed counsel, then the trial court should impress upon counsel the importance of zealously representing his client in this appeal and should warn counsel that further delay will not be tolerated by this Court.
The trial court's hearing shall be conducted within ten days of the date of this order. Appropriate orders and findings shall be entered into the record and sent to this Court in the form of a supplemental clerk's record. Should the trial court appoint new appellate counsel, a memorialization of that appointment shall be entered into the record of this case and presented to this Court in the form of a supplemental clerk's record. The reporter's record and any supplemental clerk's record shall be filed with this Court within five days of the date of the hearing.
Our jurisdiction over this appeal will resume upon our receipt of the supplemental appellate record.
IT IS SO ORDERED.