Daniel W. Taylor v. Carlotta Ficklin

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: November 14, 2017
• Docket: A18A0571
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ November 02, 2017

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A18A0571. DANIEL W. TAYLOR v. CARLOTTA FICKLIN et al.

Daniel W. Taylor, a prisoner with the Georgia Department of Corrections, filed a pro se “complaint to stop garnishment” against the Department and its superintendent. The trial court dismissed his complaint, and Taylor filed this direct appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction. Because Taylor 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 of a civil action filed by a prisoner “shall be as provided in Code Section 5-6-35.” And under OCGA § 5-6-35, a party must file an application for discretionary appeal. Because Taylor failed to do so here, this appeal must be dismissed. See Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). But even if Taylor were not currently incarcerated, this appeal would still be subject to dismissal because appeals in cases involving garnishment must also be initiated by discretionary application. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (4) and (b); Maloy v. Ewing, 226 Ga. App. 490, 491 (486 SE2d 708) (1997). For these reasons, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 11/02/2017 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.