Alfred Starling v. Joe C. Bishop

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ December 04, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20A0659. ALFRED STARLING v. JOE C. BISHOP et al.

Alfred Starling, who is serving a prison sentence following a 2018 conviction for armed robbery, filed a petition for a writ of error quo warranto against several individual defendants under OCGA § 9-6-60 et seq. The trial court dismissed Starling’s petition, and Starling filed this direct appeal. We lack jurisdiction.

Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 (“PLRA”), an appeal in a civil action filed by a prisoner must be initiated by filing an application for discretionary review. See OCGA § 42-12-8, cross-referencing OCGA § 5-6-35; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). “Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Smoak v. Dept. of Human Resources, 221 Ga. App. 257, 257 (471 SE2d 60) (1996). Because Starling was incarcerated when he filed this civil action, his failure to comply with the discretionary appeals procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. See Jones, 267 Ga. at 490-491.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 12/04/2019

I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.