Jerbrea Hanson v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: March 3, 2026
• Docket: A26I0133
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 03, 2026

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26I0133. JERBREA HANSON v. THE STATE. A26I0134. ANANDA DENNIS v. THE STATE.

A grand jury indicted Jerbrea Hanson for one count of prohibited possession of certain goods by youth under OCGA § 49-4A-18 and, with her co-defendant Ananda Dennis, one count of violating her oath as a public officer in violation of OCGA § 16- 10-1. Hanson and Dennis filed general demurrers to the indictment and Hanson filed a motion to dismiss, arguing, in pertinent part, that OCGA § 49-4A-18 (b) as applied to her was unconstitutionally vague. The trial court denied the demurrers and the constitutional challenge and certified its order for review. Both Hanson and Dennis filed applications for interlocutory review. The Supreme Court “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)). Because the trial court expressly rejected Hanson’s challenges to the constitutionality of the criminal statute in this case, it appears that jurisdiction over her application lies in the Supreme Court. See Jenkins v. State, 284 Ga. 642, 643-644 (1) (670 SE2d 425) (2008) (the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction is invoked where a criminal defendant raises a constitutional question that the trial court “distinctly ruled upon.” As the Supreme Court has the ultimate responsibility for determining appellate jurisdiction, see Saxton v. Coastal Dialysis & Med. Clinic, Inc., 267 Ga. 177, 178 (476 SE2d 587) (1996), these applications are hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.1

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/03/2026 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.

1 Although Dennis was not charged with a violation of OCGA § 49-4A-18, we are transferring Case No. A26I0134 to the Supreme Court in the interest of judicial economy.