In re J.F.

2024 UT App 178

THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS

STATE OF UTAH, IN THE INTEREST OF J.F.,
A PERSON UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE.

J.S.F.,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF UTAH,
Appellee.

Per Curiam Decision
No. 20240787-CA
Filed December 5, 2024

Seventh District Juvenile Court, Price Department
The Honorable Craig Bunnell
No. 1198656

Terry R. Spencer, Attorney for Appellant
Sean D. Reyes and John M. Peterson,
Attorneys for Appellee
Martha Pierce, Alisha Giles, and Heath Haacke,
Guardians ad Litem

Before JUDGES MICHELE M. CHRISTIANSEN FORSTER,
DAVID N. MORTENSEN, and AMY J. OLIVER.

PER CURIAM:

¶1 J.S.F. (Father) appeals the juvenile court’s order awarding
custody of J.F. (Child) to K.F. (Stepmother) and terminating its
jurisdiction. This matter is before the court on its own motion for
summary disposition based on a lack of jurisdiction due to an
untimely notice of appeal.
In re J.F.

¶2 The juvenile court held a review hearing in the underlying
case on May 22, 2024. The formal order memorializing the rulings
from the hearing was entered on June 20, 2024. The order granted
sole legal and physical custody of Child to Stepmother and
terminated juvenile court jurisdiction. Father filed his notice of
appeal from that order on July 26, 2024.

¶3 Under rule 52 of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure, a
notice of appeal from an order in a child welfare proceeding
“must be filed within 15 days of the entry of the order appealed
from.” Utah R. App. P. 52(a). If the notice of appeal is untimely,
this court lacks jurisdiction over the appeal. See In re A.M., 2005
UT App 2, ¶ 6, 106 P.3d 193 (per curiam). The time to file a notice
of appeal cannot be suspended. See Utah R. App. P. 2. Father’s
notice of appeal was not filed within fifteen days after the entry of
the juvenile court’s order. Accordingly, this court lacks
jurisdiction over his untimely appeal.

¶4 Father argues that this court should accept jurisdiction
because the order was not served on him until July 12, 2024, and
his notice of appeal was filed within fifteen days after service.
However, the time to file a notice of appeal “commences on the
date that the judgment is entered, regardless of the date that the
parties receive notice of the entry of the judgment.” D’Addabbo v.
Weber County Sheriff, 2011 UT App 345, ¶ 2, 263 P.3d 1223 (per
curiam). It is well established that a notice of appeal must be
timely, as an untimely notice “may trigger stern consequences,
precluding the appellate court from exercising jurisdiction.”
Garver v. Rosenberg, 2015 UT 39, ¶ 10, 347 P.3d 380 (cleaned up).

¶5 Father argues that the appeal should move forward
because the order was not promptly served on him under rule
58A(g) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. This argument is
unavailing for several reasons. First, rule 58A(g) itself states that
“[e]xcept as provided in Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(g), the
time for filing a notice of appeal is not affected by” the

20240787-CA 2 2024 UT App 178
In re J.F.

requirement to serve the signed order on a party. And any motion
to reinstate the time to appeal under rule 4(g) must be made in the
trial court. See Utah R. App. P. 4(g)(2).

¶6 But more importantly, rule 4(g) does not apply in juvenile
court proceedings because there is a different reinstatement
mechanism specific to the juvenile court. Under rule 52(d)(1) of
the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure, the juvenile court “will
reinstate the 15-day period for filing a direct appeal from an order
terminating parental rights or terminating the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court in a child welfare case if a parent demonstrates by
a preponderance of evidence that the parent was deprived of the
right to appeal through no fault of the parent.” It appears that
Father’s circumstances would have permitted relief under this
rule. However, the motion for reinstatement under this rule must
be made within forty-five days of the entry of the order
terminating the juvenile court’s jurisdiction, see id. R. 52(d)(2), and
Father did not timely file any such motion.

¶7 Because the notice of appeal was untimely, this appeal is
dismissed.

20240787-CA 3 2024 UT App 178