Opinion
04-22-00184-CV
05-04-2022
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
This is a parental termination case, and appellants, C.R. and M.R., filed notices of appeal challenging an Associate Judge's Report and Order terminating their parental rights to their three children. Because the notices of appeal were untimely filed, but filed within the fifteen-day grace period provided by Rule 26.2, we ordered appellants to file responses by May 2, 2022 with reasonable explanations for failing to file their notices of appeal in a timely manner.
On April 26, 2022, C.R. filed a motion for extension of time to file her notice of appeal. In the motion, counsel for C.R. acknowledges her notice of appeal was untimely filed, and she explains she did not receive notice of the ruling until March 22, 2022, which was after the deadline for filing the notice of appeal. On April 29, 2022, M.R. filed a response, also indicating counsel did not receive notice of the ruling until March 22, 2022.
"A reasonable explanation is 'any plausible statement of circumstances indicating that failure to file within the [specified] period was not deliberate or intentional, but was the result of inadvertence, mistake or mischance.'" Hone v. Hanafin, 104 S.W.3d 884, 886 (Tex. 2003) (per curiam). After construing C.R.'s motion as a response and reviewing M.R.'s response, we conclude appellants have provided a reasonable explanation for the delay in their filings. Accordingly, we conclude we have jurisdiction over this matter and reinstate the appellate deadlines. At this time, the clerk's record has been filed, and we order the court reporter to file the reporter's record by May 16, 2022.