Case Information

*1 Opinion filed December 17, 2015

In The

Eleventh Court of Appeals

__________ No. 11-15-00308-CV __________ IN THE INTEREST OF D.W., A CHILD

On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 2

Ector County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. CC2-3302-PC M E M O R A N D U M O P I N I O N

This is an attempted appeal from an order in which the trial court terminated the parental rights of D.W.’s parents. An appeal in a parental termination case is an accelerated appeal. T EX . F AM . C ODE A NN . § 263.405(a) (West 2014); T EX . R.

A PP . P. 28.4. The trial court signed the order of termination on October 22, 2015. Appellant, the mother of the child, filed a notice of appeal on December 2, 2015, and an amended notice of appeal on December 3. Because this is an accelerated appeal, Appellant’s notice of appeal was due within twenty days after the order was signed, which would have made it due on November 12, 2015, because the *2 twentieth day—November 11—was a holiday. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 4.1(a), 26.1(b). Even with the fifteen-day extension allowed by T EX . R. A PP . P. 26.3, the time for filing the notice of appeal in this case had already expired when Appellant filed her notice of appeal. In a letter dated December 2, 2015, we informed counsel for Appellant that the notice of appeal appeared to be untimely. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 26.1(b), 28.1(b). We requested that Appellant respond on or before December 7 and show grounds to continue the appeal. We also informed Appellant that the appeal was subject to dismissal for want of jurisdiction. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 42.3.

In response to this court’s letter, Appellant has filed a motion for extension of time to file appeal. However, we are without authority to grant such a motion for extension. Absent a timely notice of appeal, this court is without jurisdiction to consider an appeal. Wilkins v. Methodist Health Care Sys. , 160 S.W.3d 559, 563 (Tex. 2005); Garza v. Hibernia Nat’l Bank , 227 S.W.3d 233, 234 (Tex. App.— Houston [1st Dist.] 2007, no pet.); see also Verburgt v. Dorner , 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Pursuant to T EX . R. A PP . P. 2, we are prohibited from suspending the Rules of Appellate Procedure “to alter the time for perfecting an appeal in a civil case.” We dismiss this appeal in accordance with T EX . R. A PP . P. 42.3(a).

This appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction. PER CURIAM December 17, 2015

Panel consists of: Wright, C.J.,

Willson, J., and Bailey, J.