Order entered March 15, 2021
In The
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
No. 05-21-00138-CV
IN THE MATTER OF Z.T.
On Appeal from the 305th Judicial District Court
Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. JD-20-00919-X
ORDER
By notice of appeal filed March 1, 2021, appellant appeals from the trial
court’s order certifying her to be tried as an adult. As reasonably possible, courts
of appeal must ensure that juvenile certification appeals are brought to final
disposition within 180 days of the date the notice of appeal is filed. See TEX. FAM.
CODE ANN. § 56.01(c), (h-1); see also Order Accelerating Juvenile Certification
Appeals and Requiring Juvenile Courts to Give Notice of the Right to an
Immediate Appeal, Texas Supreme Court, Misc. Docket No. 15-9156 (Tex. 2015)
(which may be accessed at the following address:
http://www.txcourts.gov/media/1055398/159156.pdf.).
The clerk’s record has been filed. The reporter’s record is past due and the
court reporter has filed a non-payment letter. Before the Court is appellant’s
March 11, 2021 motion for an extension of time to file the record. Appellant seeks
a thirty-day extension of time “to file her Affidavit of Indigency and obtain a
ruling from the Trial Court regarding waiver/court funds for the reporter’s
record.”1 In light of the accelerated timeframe in which this Court must dispose
of this appeal, we GRANT the motion as follows. We ORDER appellant to file,
by March 19, 2021, written verification that she has filed a statement of inability
to pay costs and whether any contest has been filed. We ORDER Pamela Sumler,
Official Court Reporter of the 305th Judicial District Court, to file, by April 23,
2021, either the reporter’s record or, assuming appellant has not been found
entitled to proceed without payment of costs, written verification that appellant has
not paid for the record. We caution appellant that should we receive written
verification of nonpayment, we will order the appeal be submitted without the
reporter’s record. See TEX. R. APP. P. 37.3(c).
We DIRECT the Clerk of this Court to send a copy of this order to Ms.
Sumler and all parties.
/s/ AMANDA L. REICHEK
JUSTICE
1
On the docketing statement filed with this Court, appellant states that a statement of inability to pay court
costs was filed in the trial court but the date of that filing is left blank. The case summary in the clerk’s
record does not reflect a statement of inability to pay court costs has been filed.