Sharon Heard v. Brendette L. Williams

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ February 20, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A19D0318. SHARON HEARD v. BRENDETTE L. WILLIAMS. A19D0320. BRENDETTE L. WILLIAMS v. SHARON HEARD et al. A19D0323. BAKER COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD A/K/A BAKER COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT v. BRENDETTE L. WILLIAMS.

Sharon Heard, Brendette L. Williams, and the Baker County School Board have all filed applications for discretionary review from the trial court’s order awarding attorney fees in favor of Williams. The underlying action involved Heard’s petition to contest the May 2016 Democratic primary election for a seat on the Baker County Board of Education. The Supreme Court previously decided an interlocutory appeal in this case in Williams v. Heard, 302 Ga. 114 (805 SE2d 1) (2017).

The Supreme Court “has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over ‘[a]ll cases of election contest.’” Cook v. Bd. of Registrars, 291 Ga. 67, 68 (2) (a) (1) (727 SE2d 478) (2012) (quoting Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. II (2)). Because the underlying subject matter of this action is an “election contest,” it appears that jurisdiction over these applications lies in the Supreme Court. See Davis v. Dunn, 286 Ga. 582, 582 (690 SE2d 389) (2010) (exercising its jurisdiction over an attorney fee award in an election contest case). 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.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/20/2019

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.