Trevor Williams v. Kyiesha Harris

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: December 4, 2024
• Docket: A25A0703
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ December 04, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25A0703. TREVOR WILLIAMS v. KYIESHA HARRIS.

On September 23, 2024, the trial court entered an order finding Trevor Williams in contempt for failure to pay child support and attorney fees. The court also awarded additional attorney fees under OCGA § 9-15-14. On October 24, 2024, Williams filed this direct appeal. We lack jurisdiction for two reasons. First, “[a]ppeals from judgments or orders in divorce, alimony, and other domestic relations cases, including . . . holding or declining to hold persons in contempt” must be made by filing an application for discretionary review. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (2), (b). Where the issue on appeal is child support, the case is a domestic relations case within the meaning of the statute. See Booker v. Ga. Dept. of Human Resources, 317 Ga. App. 426, 427 (731 SE2d 110) (2012); see also Russo v. Manning, 252 Ga. 155, 156 (312 SE2d 319) (1984) (“A judgment of contempt regarding a domestic relations decree is appealable only by application for discretionary appeal.”). Likewise, appeals from orders awarding attorney fees under OCGA § 9-15-14 require an application for discretionary appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (10), (b); Capricorn Systems v. Godavarthy, 253 Ga. App. 840, 841-842 (560 SE2d 730) (2002). “Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Smoak v. Dept. of Human Resources, 221 Ga. App. 257, 257 (471 SE2d 60) (1996). Williams’s failure to follow the discretionary appeal procedure thus deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal. See id. Second, even if a direct appeal were proper in this case, the notice of appeal is untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the judgment or trial court order sought to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer appellate jurisdiction on this Court. Perlman v. Perlman, 318 Ga. App. 731, 739 (4) (734 SE2d 560) (2012). Here, Williams’s notice of appeal was untimely filed 31 days after entry of the order he seeks to appeal. For these reasons, we lack jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 12/04/2024 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.