David Lee Hawkins v. Jennifer Marie Hawkins

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: February 7, 2018
• Docket: A18A1116
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ February 07, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A18A1116. DAVID LEE HAWKINS v. JENNIFER MARIE HAWKINS.

In November 2017, husband David Lee Hawkins and wife Jennifer Marie Hawkins were divorced pursuant to the terms of a final judgment and decree. The husband then filed this direct appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction. First, appeals from “judgments or orders in divorce, alimony, and other domestic relations cases” must be made by application for discretionary appeal. OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (2); accord Voyles v. Voyles, 301 Ga. 44, 47 (799 SE2d 160) (2017) (an appeal in a domestic relations case in which custody is not at issue must be brought by discretionary application). “[C]ompliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Fabe v. Floyd, 199 Ga. App. 322, 332 (1) (405 SE2d 265) (1991). The husband’s failure to follow the discretionary appeal procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over this direct appeal. Second, because the husband 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 the husband failed to do so here, this action must be dismissed. See Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 489 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). For the foregoing reasons, we lack jurisdiction to consider the husband’s appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/07/2018 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.