KEELY COLLINS v. FLOWER BED CREATIONS

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ November 04, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26A0022. COLLINS v. FLOWER BED CREATIONS et al.

This case began in magistrate court. Following an adverse ruling, defendants Flower Bed Creations and Steve Marseille appealed to the superior court. After allowing plaintiff Keely Collins to amend the complaint, the superior court found that the defendants were liable, but that Collins had failed to prove damages. Collins filed a motion for new trial, which the superior court denied. Collins then appealed directly to this Court. We lack jurisdiction.

An appeal from a superior court decision reviewing a lower court decision must be initiated by filing an application for discretionary review. OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1), (b); Bullock v. Sand, 260 Ga. App. 874, 875 (581 SE2d 333) (2003). This is true even in cases, such as this one, in which the appeal was expanded in superior court to include matters beyond the scope of the magistrate court case. Bullock, 260 Ga. App. at 875; see generally Handler v. Hulsey, 199 Ga. App. 751 (406 SE2d 225) (1991) (where issues raised in counterclaim were directly related to the issues raised in magistrate court, they were properly considered part of the de novo proceeding and application was required). “Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Smoak v. Dep’t of Human Res., 221 Ga. App. 257, 257 (471 SE2d 60) (1996).

For the above reasons, Collins’s failure to follow the proper procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 11/04/2025

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.