S.H. v. State (In re M.H.)

S.H. v. State (In re M.H.)

IN THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS

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State of Utah, in the interest of M.H., K.H., B.H., M.H., and C.H., persons under eighteen years of age.

______________________________

S.H.,

Appellant,

v.

State of Utah,

Appellee.

MEMORANDUM DECISION
(Not For Official Publication)
 

Case No. 20030615-CA
 

F I L E D
(November 6, 2003)
 

2003 UT App 371

 

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Fourth District Juvenile, Provo Department

The Honorable Kay A. Lindsay

Attorneys: S.H., Spanish Fork, Appellant Pro Se

Mark L. Shurtleff and Carol L.C. Verdoia, Salt Lake City, for Appellee

Martha Pierce, Salt Lake City, Guardian Ad Litem

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Before Judges Jackson, Bench, and Orme.

PER CURIAM:

S.H. seeks to appeal the judgment granting the State's petition to terminate her parental rights. This case is before the court on a sua sponte motion for summary dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.

Following a trial on the State's petition to terminate parental rights, the court issued an unsigned minute entry on November 27, 2001, announcing its decision to terminate S.H.'s parental rights. S.H. filed her original notice of appeal on December 26, 2001, which was assigned our case no. 20011027-CA. That appeal was later dismissed for failure to prosecute. S.H.'s statement that she made arrangements to postpone briefing in that appeal is without merit.

The juvenile court entered its Amended Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and Order for Termination on Parental Rights on March 6, 2002.(1) S.H. filed a notice of appeal over one year later, on July 28, 2003, well beyond the thirty-day time limit under rule 4(a) of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure.

"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.2d 616. Appellant does not dispute that this appeal was not timely filed, but requests that the appeal be allowed to proceed in the interest of justice. However, this court is precluded from extending the time for appeal. See Utah R. App. P. 2. Moreover, the time to seek an extension in the trial court has expired. See Utah R. App. P. 4(e) (allowing trial court to consider a motion to extend time to appeal filed within thirty days after expiration of the original thirty-day appeal period). Once a court has concluded that it lacks jurisdiction, it "retains only the jurisdiction to dismiss the action." Varian-Eimac, Inc. v. Lamoreaux, 767 P.2d 569, 570 (Utah Ct. App. 1998).

We dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

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Norman H. Jackson,

Presiding Judge

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Russell W. Bench, Judge

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Gregory K. Orme, Judge

1. The juvenile court entered its initial Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and Order Terminating Parental Rights on February 4, 2002, which determined only the parental rights of the children's natural father.