Chad Hargreaves v. State of Georgia

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: April 20, 2023
• Docket: A23A1309
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ April 20, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23A1309. CHAD HARGREAVES v. STATE OF GEORGIA et al.

Prison inmate Chad Hargreaves filed a civil action against the State of Georgia and various corrections officials. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, which the trial court granted, and Hargreaves thereafter filed this appeal. We lack jurisdiction. Because Hargreaves is incarcerated, his appeal is controlled by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, OCGA § 42-12-1 et seq. Under OCGA § 42-12-8, an appeal in a civil action filed by a prisoner “shall be as provided in Code Section 5-6- 35.” And under OCGA § 5-6-35, the party wishing to appeal must file an application for discretionary appeal. Because a prisoner has no right of direct appeal in civil cases, we lack jurisdiction to consider this direct appeal from the trial court’s order. See Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490-491 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 04/20/2023 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.