COURT OF APPEALS OF WISCONSIN

PUBLISHED OPINION

 

 

Case No.:                        98-0075-NM

 

 

Complete Title

 of Case:

                                                   


 

In re the Termination of

Parental Rights of Ashley A.T.,

a Person Under the Age of 18:

 

Brown County,

 

                             Petitioner-Respondent,

 

              v.

 

Edward C.T.,

 

                             Respondent-Appellant.

 

 

Opinion Filed:                  March 31, 1998

Submitted on Report:       March 10, 1998

 

 

JUDGES:                        Cane, P.J., Myse and Hoover, JJ.

 

 

Appellant

ATTORNEYS:               On behalf of the respondent-appellant, the cause was submitted on the no merit report of John D. Lubarsky, assistant state public defender, of Madison.

 

                                       On behalf of the respondent-appellant, the cause was submitted on the response of Edward C. T., pro se, of Green Bay.

                                      

 

 

 

COURT OF APPEALS

DECISION

DATED AND FILED

 

 

NOTICE

 

March 31, 1998

    This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports.

 

Marilyn L. Graves

Clerk, Court of Appeals

of Wisconsin

    A party may file with the Supreme Court a petition to review an adverse decision by the Court of Appeals.  See § 808.10 and Rule 809.62, Stats.

 

 

 

No.    98-0075-NM

 

 

 

STATE OF WISCONSIN

 

IN COURT OF APPEALS

 

 

 

 

In re the Termination of

 

Parental Rights of Ashley A.T.,

 

a Person Under the Age of 18:

 

Brown County,

 

                             Petitioner-Respondent,

 

              v.

 

Edward C.T.,

 

                             Respondent-Appellant.

 

 

 

 

APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for Brown  County:  WILLIAM C. GRIESBACH, Judge.  Jurisdiction confirmed. 

Before Cane, P.J., Myse and Hoover, JJ. 

PER CURIAM.   Counsel for Edward C.T. has filed a no merit report from an order terminating Edward’s parental rights.  This court required the no merit report to address the applicability of the no merit procedure to a TPR appeal.[1]  We conclude that a no merit report may be filed in a TPR appeal within the times set by Rule 809.107, Stats.

In Christopher D. v. Franklin, 191 Wis.2d 680, 699-700, 530 N.W.2d 34, 41-42 (Ct. App. 1995), responding to an equal protection argument that a parent should have a longer time to appeal a TPR order because he would have 180 days in a no merit appeal, this court held that Rule 809.32, Stats., (no merit reports) does not apply to TPR appeals.  That language should not be construed to preclude the filing of a no merit report in a TPR case.  Rather, the generous time limits imposed by Rule 809.32, Stats., have been superseded by Rule 809.107, Stats., in TPR cases.  A no merit report may be filed where, as here, the notice of intent and notice of appeal were timely filed under Rule 809.107(2) and (5), Stats., and the no merit report was filed within the time set for filing the appellant’s brief under Rule 809.107(6)(a), Stats.

Upon the timely filing of a no merit report, this court will allow ten days for the parent to file a response to the report.  This time is consistent with the time for filing a respondent’s brief under Rule 809.107(6)(b), Stats.  The thirty-day response time set by Rule 809.32, Stats., has been superseded by the shorter deadlines imposed by § 809.107, Stats.  Christopher D., 191 Wis.2d at 700, 530 N.W.2d at 42. 

By the Court.—Jurisdiction confirmed.

 

 


[1] The merits of the TPR appeal will be decided by separate order.