in the Interest of L.H., a Child

In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-22-00171-CV
IN THE INTEREST OF L.H., A CHILD
On Appeal from the 223rd District Court
Gray County, Texas
Trial Court No. 39,999, Honorable Phil N. Vanderpool, Presiding
July 21, 2022
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before QUINN, C.J., and PARKER and DOSS, JJ.,
Appellant and intervenor below, M.M., appearing pro se, attempts to appeal from
the trial court’s Order of Termination. The trial court signed the order on March 18, 2022.
A notice of appeal was, therefore, due within twenty days after the order was signed, by
April 7, 2022. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(b), 28.4(a).1 Appellant filed a notice of appeal on June
16, 2022.
1 In an accelerated appeal, absent a Rule 26.3 motion, which is not applicable here, “the deadline
for filing a notice of appeal is strictly set at twenty days after the judgment is signed, with no exceptions,”
and, consequently, filing a post-judgment motion will not operate to extend that deadline. See In re K.A.F.,
160 S.W.3d 923, 927 (Tex. 2005).
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). By
letter of June 17, 2022, we notified M.M. that her notice of appeal appeared untimely and
directed her to file a response on or before June 27, 2022, showing grounds for continuing
the appeal or the appeal would be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. To date, M.M. has
not filed a response.
Accordingly, we dismiss the purported appeal for want of jurisdiction. TEX. R. APP.
P. 42.3(a).
Per Curiam
2