Miles v. Emmons

507 S.E.2d 762, 234 Ga. App. 487, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 3239, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 1135

Opinions

Ruffin, Judge.

William L. Emmons appealed to the Glynn County Superior Court from the Georgia Department of Public Safety’s (“DPS”) cancellation of his Georgia driver’s license. The trial court ordered DPS to return Emmons’ Georgia driver’s license to him. Sidney Miles, the DPS Commissioner, filed an application for discretionary appeal with this Court, which we granted. Because Miles failed to file an enumeration of errors, the appeal must be dismissed.

The Appellate Practice Act, OCGA § 5-6-30 et seq., “shall be liberally construed so as to bring about a decision on the merits of every case appealed and to avoid dismissal of any case or refusal to consider any points therein, except as may be specifically referred to in this article.” OCGA § 5-6-30. The Appellate Practice Act provides that an appellant “shall file with the clerk of the appellate court, at such time as may be prescribed by its rules, an enumeration of the errors which shall set out separately each error relied upon. . . . The appellate court, by rule, may permit the enumeration to be made a part of the brief.” (Emphasis supplied.) OCGA § 5-6-40.

This Court does not permit the enumerations of error to be made part of the brief, but clearly requires a separate filing. Court of Appeals Rules 22 (a) and 26 (a). See also Lewis v. State, 226 Ga. App. 344, 345 (487 SE2d 533) (1997) (Beasley, J., concurring specially). This Court and the Supreme Court of Georgia have made clear that failure to file an enumeration of érrors requires dismissal of an appeal, and that arguments raised in the appellate brief are not made issues on appeal unless they are properly enumerated as error. See Lee v. State, 265 Ga. 112, 116 (8) (454 SE2d 761) (1995); Lowery v. Smith, 225 Ga. 814 (171 SE2d 500) (1969); Lewis, supra; DeKalb County v. Beacon Indus., 187 Ga. App. 370, 373 (3) (370 SE2d 191) (1988).

In this case, Miles failed to file an enumeration of errors, and his appeal is therefore dismissed.

Appeal dismissed.

Pope, P. J., and Beasley, J., concur specially.