Opinion
04-22-00184-CV
04-21-2022
IN THE INTEREST OF J.A.R.R., ET AL., Children
From the 131st Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2020PA01005 Honorable Kimberly Burley, Judge Presiding
ORDER
LUZ ELENA D. CHAPA, JUSTICE.
The trial court signed a final appealable order on February 26, 2022. Because this is an accelerated appeal, the notice of appeal was due by March 18, 2022. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b). A motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal was due by April 4, 2022. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3. Appellants did not file motions for extensions of time; instead, they filed notices of appeal on April 4, 2022-within the time allowed for filing a motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal.
A motion for extension of 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 for extension of time. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997) (construing the predecessor to Rule 26). But "once the period for granting a motion for extension of time under Rule [26.3] has passed, a party can no longer invoke the appellate court's jurisdiction." Id.
Because the notice of appeal was untimely filed but within the fifteen-day grace period, we order appellants to file responses with reasonable explanations for failing to file their notices of appeal in a timely manner by May 2, 2022. If appellants fail to respond within the time provided, the appeal will be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(c). All other appellate deadlines are suspended until further order of this court.