State of Utah, in the interest of K.G., M.G., and S.D.

State of Utah, in the interest of K.G., M.G., and S.D., Case No. 20010859-CA, Filed January 4, 2002 IN THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS

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State of Utah, in the interest of K.G., M.G., and S.D., persons under eighteen years of age.
______________________________

J.G.,
Appellant,

v.

State of Utah,
Appellee.

MEMORANDUM DECISION
(Not For Official Publication)

Case No. 20010859-CA

F I L E D
January 4, 2002 2002 UT App 3 -----

Second District Juvenile, Farmington Department
The Honorable Diane W. Wilkins

Attorneys:
April Freedman, Salt Lake City, for Appellant
Mark L. Shurtleff and John M. Peterson, Salt Lake City, for Appellee
Martha Pierce, Salt Lake City, Guardian Ad Litem -----

Before Judges Billings, Davis, and Greenwood.

PER CURIAM:

This case is before the court on a sua sponte motion for summary dismissal for lack of jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 10(a)(1) of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure.

The juvenile court acted properly when it did not accept the notice of appeal without the filing fee. See Utah R. App. P. 3(f) ("The clerk of the trial court shall not accept a notice of appeal unless the filing fee is paid."). The juvenile court immediately notified appellant, through counsel, that her appeal could not be filed until she paid the filing fee or the court found her impecunious. Appellant did not move the trial court to extend the time to file a notice of appeal as provided by Rule 4(e) of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure. Moreover, appellant failed to timely return the affidavit of impecuniosity to the juvenile court.

Rule 4(a) of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure provides that a notice of appeal "shall be filed with the clerk of the court from which the appeal is taken within 30 days after the date of entry of the judgment or order appealed from." In the present case, it is undisputed that the trial court entered the final termination order on August 22, 2001. The stamped filing date on the notice of appeal is October 22, 2001, sixty-one days after the entry of the final order. "If an appeal is not timely filed, this court lacks jurisdiction to hear the appeal." Serrato v. Utah Transit Auth., 2000 UT App 299,¶7, 13 P.3d 616.

In determining whether a notice of appeal is timely filed and establishes jurisdiction in an appellate court, this court must be bound by the filing date indicated on the notice of appeal transmitted to it by the trial court. This requirement is implicit in provisions of our rules governing timeliness of an appeal.

In re M.S., 781 P.2d 1287, 1288 (Utah Ct. App. 1989). We are therefore bound by the date stamped on appellant's notice of appeal, and must dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
 
 
 

______________________________
Judith M. Billings,
Associate Presiding Judge
 
 
 

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James Z. Davis, Judge
 
 
 

______________________________
Pamela T. Greenwood, Judge