GEORGIA LOTTERY CORPORATION v. MRE-BOP OPERATIONS, LLC

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: January 27, 2026
• Docket: A25A2074
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 27, 2026

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25A2074. GEORGIA LOTTERY CORPORATION et al. v. MRE-BOP OPERATIONS, LLC.

The Georgia Lottery Corporation (GLC) fined MRE-BOP Operations, LLC $30,000 and temporarily revoked its license to operate coin-operated amusement machines. MRE-BOP appealed to the superior court, which reversed the decision of the GLC on numerous grounds. The GLC now appeals from the superior court’s decision to this Court. The Supreme Court of Georgia “has exclusive jurisdiction over all cases involving construction of the Constitution of the State of Georgia and of the United States and all cases in which the constitutionality of a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision has been called into question.” Atlanta Independent School System v. Lane, 266 Ga. 657, 657(1) (469 SE2d 22) (1996) (citing Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. II(1)). This exclusive jurisdiction extends “only to constitutional issues that were distinctly ruled on by the trial court and that do not involve the application of unquestioned and unambiguous constitutional provisions or challenges to laws previously held to be constitutional against the same attack.” State v. Davis, 303 Ga. 684, 687(1) (814 SE2d 701) (2018) (quotation marks omitted). In this case, the trial court expressly determined several constitutional issues, concluding that the GLC’s penalty provisions exceeded the authority given to it by the legislature, the imposition of penalties by a GLC hearing officer infringed on MRE- BOP’s right to a jury trial, and the penalties violated the constitutional prohibitions against excessive fines. Therefore, it appears that jurisdiction of this appeal may lie in the Supreme Court of Georgia. As that Court has the ultimate responsibility for determining appellate jurisdiction, see Saxton v. Coastal Dialysis & Med. Clinic, 267 Ga. 177, 178 (476 SE2d 587) (1996), we hereby TRANSFER this appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 01/27/2026 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.