Melissa Gates v. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Commissioner Henry Whitman, Jr.

Opinion

ACCEPTED

03-15-00631-CV

8328703

THIRD COURT OF APPEALS

AUSTIN, TEXAS

12/21/2015 3:31:31 PM

JEFFREY D. KYLE

CLERK

No. 03-15-00631-CV

_______________________________

FILED IN

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 3rd COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS

FOR THE 12/21/2015 3:31:31 PM THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF TEXASJEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk

_______________________________

MELISSA GATES

Appellants,

VS.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES AND COMMISSIONER JOHN SPECIA, Appellees.

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APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEF

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TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:

Appellees’ Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and

Commissioner John Specia (“Appellees”) ask the Court to extend the time to file their

Appellees’ Brief.

A. INTRODUCTION

1. Appellees are Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and

Commissioner John Specia (collectively, “Appellees”).

2. No rule limits the time to file this motion to extend. TEX. R. APP. P. 38.6(d)

(“A motion to extend the time to file a brief may be filed before or after the date the brief

is due.”).

APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEF PAGE 1

3. Appellant is unopposed to this motion.

B. ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITIES

4. The Court may extend the time for filing a brief under the authority of

Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.6(d).

5. The deadline to file the Appellees’ Brief is December 30, 2015. See TEX.

R. APP. P. 38.6(b).

6. Appellees request an additional 30 days to file their brief, extending the

time until January 29, 2016. This is the first request for an extension by Appellees to file

their brief.

7. Appellees require additional time to file their brief because of holiday

office closures and other filing deadlines in Wilkerson v. Univ. of N. Tex. Et al., Civil

No.: 4:15-cv-00540, in the EDTX-Sherman Division; and Planned Parenthood of

Greater Texas Family Planning and Preventative Health Services, Inc., et al. vs. Chris

Traylor, et al., Civil No: 1:15-cv-01058, in the WDTX-Austin Division. For these

reasons, Appellees request that the Court extend the deadline 30 days for Appellees to

file their brief.

8. No prior extension has been granted to extend the time to file the

Appellees’ Brief.

C. PRAYER

For these reasons, Appellees’ Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

and Commissioner John Specia, request that this Court grant an extension of time and set

January 29, 2015, as the due date for Appellees’ Brief.

APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEF PAGE 2

Respectfully submitted,

KEN PAXTON Attorney General of Texas

CHARLES E. ROY First Assistant Attorney General

JAMES E. DAVIS Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation

ANGELA V. COLMENERO Chief, General Litigation Division

/s/ Marc Rietvelt MARC RIETVELT State Bar No. 24043892 Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General P.O. Box 12548 Austin, Texas 78711-2548 (512) 463-2120 (512) 320-0667 FAX marc.rietvelt@texasattorneygeneral.gov

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANTS

APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

I hereby certify that on December 14, 2015, I conferred with counsel for Appellant concerning the merits of this motion. Counsel for Appellant informed me that he was unopposed to Appellees’ request for an extension of time to file their Appellees’ Brief

/s/ Marc Rietvelt Marc Rietvelt Assistant Attorney General

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was filed electronically and that notice of this filing will be sent to the following persons through File & Serve Xpress’ electronic filing system and email on December 21, 2015:

Thomas C. Sanders Attorney at Law P. O. Box 1860 Sugar Land, Texas 77487 281/242-9700 Telephone 281/242-8340 Facsimile tcsanders76@yahoo.com

Robert G. Gibson, Jr. Attorney at Law P. O. Box 387 Rosenberg, Texas 77471 713/953-0500 Telephone 713/953-0750 Facsimile rgglaw@juno.com

/s/ Marc Rietvelt Marc Rietvelt Assistant Attorney General

APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEF PAGE 4