After a hearing, the parental rights of the father of D.J.F. were terminated by written order of the Juvenile Court of Wayne County. The juvenile court dismissed the appeal on the ground that the father had failed to meet his burden of having the hearing transcript prepared and filed under OCGA § 5-6-42. The father appeals, contending that his notice of appeal was improperly dismissed and that his parental rights should not have been terminated. Because we conclude that the appeal was not unreasonably delayed, we agree with the father that the juvenile court erred in dismissing his notice of appeal. We therefore vacate the juvenile court’s order dismissing the notice of appeal and reinstate the appeal. We also conclude, however, that the record supports the juvenile court’s decision to terminate the father’s parental rights. We therefore affirm in part and vacate in part. 1. We first address the father’s argument that the juvenile court erred in dismissing his notice of appeal. The trial court entered its written order on April 17, 2003. The father filed a notice of appeal on May 19, 2003 and an amended notice on July 3, 2003. On September 3, 2003, DFACS moved to dismiss the notice of appeal on the ground that the father had not filed or paid the cost of the transcript and had not sought an extension of time for filing the transcript. Following a hearing on September 25, 2003, the juvenile court orally granted the motion to dismiss, finding that the father caused the delay in filing the transcript and that the delay was unreasonable and inexcusable.
On October 2, 2003, the juvenile court entered a written order finding that the father bore “the burden of having the transcript prepared and filed within thirty 30 days unless extended” under OCGA § 5-6-42. The court further found that the father had not ordered or paid for a transcript, that no transcript had been filed, that the delay was caused by the father, and that the delay in filing the transcript had “caused delay in providing permanency for the child.” The court concluded that the delay was unreasonable and inexcusable and dismissed the notice of appeal. The transcript was filed with the Wayne County clerk’s office on the same date as the trial court issued its written order on the motion to dismiss, and it was sent to us along with the record.
