In the Interest of N. L. a Child v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: December 14, 2023
• Docket: 02-23-00406-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________ No. 02-23-00406-CV ___________________________

IN THE INTEREST OF N. L., A CHILD

On Appeal from the 442nd District Court Denton County, Texas Trial Court No. 2008-30603-211

Before Kerr, Birdwell, and Bassel, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Kerr MEMORANDUM OPINION

On August 22, 2023, the trial court signed an “Order of Dismissal” dismissing

the underlying case. Pro se appellant C.L. attempts to appeal from that order. Because

no postjudgment motion was filed, C.L.’s notice of appeal was due on September 21,

2023. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. But C.L. did not file his notice of appeal until October

25, 2023, making it untimely. See id.

We notified C.L. by letter of our concern that we lack jurisdiction over this

appeal because his notice of appeal was untimely filed. See id. We warned C.L. that

unless he or any other party desiring to continue the appeal filed a response within ten

days showing grounds for continuing the appeal, we could dismiss the appeal for want

of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 44.3. Ten days have passed, and we have

received no response.

The deadline for filing a notice of appeal is jurisdictional; without a timely filed

notice of appeal or a timely filed extension request, we must dismiss the appeal. See

Tex. R. App. P. 2, 25.1(b), 26.1, 26.3; Jones v. City of Houston, 976 S.W.2d 676, 677 (Tex.

1998); Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Because C.L.’s notice of

appeal was untimely filed, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R.

App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f).

2 /s/ Elizabeth Kerr Elizabeth Kerr Justice

Delivered: December 14, 2023