In THE INTEREST OF A. F., CHILDREN

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: October 12, 2022
• Docket: A23A0325
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ October 12, 2022

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23A0325. IN THE INTEREST OF A. F. et al., CHILDREN.

On April 28, 2022, the juvenile court issued an order in which it found that the minor children, A. F. and J. F., continued to be dependent, that the children would not be returned to the maternal grandmother, and that the children would remain in the custody of the Department of Family and Children Services.1 The grandmother filed a motion for reconsideration of that order, which the juvenile court denied on August 15, 2022. The grandmother then filed this direct appeal on August 29, 2022. We, however, lack jurisdiction. The juvenile court’s April 28 dependency order was directly appealable, as temporary custody orders issued in dependency proceedings are directly appealable. See In the Interest of S. W., 363 Ga. App. 666, 668-669 (1) (872 SE2d 316) (2022). However, because the grandmother failed to file a notice of appeal within 30 days of the dependency order, her appeal is untimely as to it. See OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). Although the grandmother sought reconsideration of the dependency order, the denial of a motion for reconsideration is not appealable in its own right, see Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 511 (536 SE2d 187) (2000), and the filing of such a motion does not extend the time for filing a notice of appeal. See Cheeley-Towns v. Rapid Group, 212 Ga. App. 183, 183 (1) (441 SE2d 452) (1994). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction upon an appellate court. See Couch v. United Paperworkers Intl. Union, 224 Ga. App. 721, 721 (482 SE2d 704) (1997).

1 The order was entered nunc pro tunc to January 7, 2022. Because the grandmother did not file a timely notice of appeal from a directly appealable order, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 10/12/2022 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.