in the Interest of C.W., a Child ( 2023 )

In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-22-00371-CV
IN THE INTEREST OF C.W., A CHILD
On Appeal from the 320th District Court
Potter County, Texas
Trial Court No. 095964-E-FM, Honorable Carry Baker, Associate Judge Presiding
January 24, 2023
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before PARKER and DOSS and YARBROUGH, JJ.
Appellant, S.E., appeals from the trial court’s Order of Termination, terminating his
parental rights to his child, C.W. We dismiss the untimely appeal for want of jurisdiction.
The trial court signed the Order of Termination on September 22, 2022. See TEX.
FAM. CODE ANN. § 201.2041(a). A notice of appeal was, therefore, due within twenty days
after the order was signed, by October 12, 2022. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(b), 28.4(a).
S.E. did not file a notice of appeal, however, until December 19, 2022.
A timely notice of appeal is essential to invoking this Court’s jurisdiction. See TEX.
R. APP. P. 25.1(b), 26.1; Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 616–17 (Tex. 1997).
Notwithstanding that the Texas Supreme Court has directed us to construe the Rules of
Appellate Procedure reasonably and liberally so that the right of appeal is not lost by
imposing requirements not absolutely necessary to effect the purpose of those rules, we
are prohibited from enlarging the time for perfecting an appeal in a civil case. See
Verburgt, 959 S.W.2d at 616–17; TEX. R. APP. P. 2 (providing that appellate courts may
not suspend a rule’s operation or order a different procedure to alter the time for perfecting
an appeal).
By letter of December 21, 2022, we notified S.E. that his notice of appeal appeared
untimely and directed him to show how we have jurisdiction over the appeal by January
3, 2023. To date, S.E. has neither filed a response nor had any further communication
with this Court.
Because S.E.’s late notice of appeal failed to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court,
we dismiss her appeal for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a).
Per Curiam
2