In the Interest of C.K.S., a Child v. the State of Texas

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-25-00078-CV

IN THE INTEREST OF C.K.S., A CHILD

On Appeal from the 123rd District Court Panola County, Texas Trial Court No. 2024-291

Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice van Cleef MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant, Nickolas G. Kjeldergaard, filed a pro se notice of appeal on September 2,

2025. The clerk’s record was filed on September 29, 2025. The court reporter’s record was filed

on November 17, 2025. On November 6, 2025, we received a document that purported to be

Kjeldergaard’s appellate brief. On January 6, 2026, we sent Kjeldergaard a letter explaining that,

for numerous reasons, the document we received was inadequate to serve as a brief because it

did not meet the requirements of Rule 38.1 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See TEX.

R. APP. P. 38.1. In our letter, we provided Kjeldergaard with a detailed explanation of why the

document he provided to this Court failed to comply with Rule 38.1. We informed Kjeldergaard

that if he did not file a brief that complied with Rule 38.1 by January 27, 2026, the appeal would

be ripe for dismissal.

On February 2, 2026, Kjeldergaard provided this Court with a second document that we

construed as his “corrected” brief. That document also failed to comply with the requirements of

Rule 38.1. Because Kjeldergaard did not file a brief meeting the requirements of Rule 38.1, his

appeal is ripe for dismissal.

2 Pursuant to Rules 38.8 and 42.3 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, we dismiss

this appeal for want of prosecution. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.8, 42.3; see also Williams v. Johnson,

No. 10-02-00346-CV, 2003 WL 21361266 (Tex. App.—Waco June 4, 2003, pet. denied)

(per curiam) (mem. op.).

Charles van Cleef Justice

Date Submitted: February 5, 2026 Date Decided: February 6, 2026