Chet B. Jones v. Andrew Evans

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: November 23, 2018
• Docket: A19A0450
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ November 20, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A19A0450. JONES v. EVANS et al.

Andrew Evans and Kurt Renfroe filed a civil action against Chet Jones seeking repayment of a loan. When Jones failed to answer the claim, the trial court granted Evans’s motion for default judgment. Jones appealed, but after the appeal was docketed, Jones filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He then filed a notice to stay his appeal and has submitted a copy of the Chapter 7 petition to this Court.

“[T]he appellate courts of this state are constitutionally required to dispose of every case at the term of court for which it is entered on the court’s dockets for hearing or at the next term of court. See Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. IX, Para. II. Accordingly, this Court does not have the power to stay a case.” See Boardman v. Brenninkmeijer, 328 Ga. App. 882, 882-883 (763 SE2d 267) (2014).

We therefore remand this case to the trial court until the stay of proceedings is lifted. See id. Once the bankruptcy stay is lifted, Jones may re-institute his appeal by filing a new notice of appeal in the trial court within 30 days of the date of the entry of bankruptcy court’s order lifting the stay. Id. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 11/20/2018 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.