STATE OF GEORGIA v. DECATUR COUNTY-BAINBRIDGE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: October 31, 2024
• Docket: A24A1078
• Status: Published

Opinion

THIRD DIVISION DOYLE, P. J., HODGES and WATKINS, JJ.

NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. https://www.gaappeals.us/rules

October 31, 2024

In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A24A1078. STATE OF GEORGIA v. DECATUR COUNTY- BAINBRIDGE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY et al.

WATKINS, Judge.

In December 2023, the State of Georgia sought to validate up to $300 million

in taxable revenue bonds to fund construction and development of a primate breeding

facility. The trial court granted the State’s petition and validated the bond. Area

citizens subsequently moved to intervene in the proceeding, and the State filed a

motion for reconsideration or, alternatively, to set aside the bond validation order. In

its motion, the State alleged that based on new information that had recently come to

his attention, the district attorney who filed the petition now believed that certain requirements for the project had not been met. Before the trial court ruled on the

motion, however, the State filed a notice of appeal from the bond validation order.

“It is incumbent upon this Court to inquire into its own jurisdiction.”1 In the

appeal presently before this Court, the State asks us to vacate a bond validation order

that was issued pursuant to the State’s own request. The State contends that the bond

validation proceedings were improper, but the State acknowledges that at the time the

trial court issued its order on the petition, the court was unaware of the deficiencies.

Indeed, as the State acknowledges, the bond validation petition averred that all the

requirements for a bond validation had been met.

Because the State petitioned the trial court for the bond validation, it cannot

bring an appeal from the trial court’s order granting that petition. “A notice of appeal

must be filed from an appealable decision or judgment, OCGA § 5-6-38, and must be

brought by one with standing to pursue the appeal.”2 And “[i]t is axiomatic that at the

appellate level one cannot complain of a judgment, order, or ruling that his own

1 (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Nance v. Houston County School Dist., 359 Ga. App. 204, 205 (857 SE2d 97) (2021). 2 (Citation, punctuation and emphasis omitted.) Waye v. Continental Special Risks, Inc., 289 Ga. App. 82, 84 (656 SE2d 150) (2007). 2 procedure or conduct procured or aided in causing.”3 Here, the trial court granted the

State’s petition to validate the bonds at issue. The trial court’s order, therefore,

provides no basis for the State to appeal, and this appeal must be dismissed.4

Appeal dismissed. Doyle, P. J., concurs. Hodges, J., concurs in judgment only.

3 (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Id. (dismissing plaintiff’s appeal from his own voluntary dismissal). See also Studdard v. Satcher, Chick, Kapfer, Inc., 217 Ga. App. 1, 3 (456 SE2d 71) (1995) (same); Bagwell v. Hunt, 174 Ga. App. 148, 149 (2) (329 SE2d 215) (1985) (dismissing cross-appeal “as the order appealed from was favorable to [the cross-appellant], thus providing no basis for appeal[ ]”). 4 See Kelly v. State, 315 Ga. 444, 445 (1) n.2 (883 SE2d 363) (2023) (citing Bivens v. Todd, 222 Ga. 84, 85 (148 SE2d 424) (1966), for the principle that a party’s appeal must be dismissed when it is brought from a judgment that was completely favorable to him). 3