WILLIAM BURKE v. ROSA CHILDS

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 23, 2021
• Docket: A21A1604
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 07, 2021

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A21A1604. WILLIAM BURKE v. ROSA CHILDS et al.

Prison inmate William Burke filed a civil action against two clerks of the Dooly County Superior Court. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss based on official immunity, which the trial court granted. Burke now appeals directly to this Court, but we lack jurisdiction. Because Burke is incarcerated, his appeal is controlled by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, OCGA § 42-12-1 et seq. Under OCGA § 42-12-8, an appeal of a civil action filed by a prisoner “shall be as provided in Code Section 5-6-35.” And under OCGA § 5-6-35, the party wishing to appeal must file an application for discretionary appeal to the appropriate appellate court. Because a prisoner has no right of direct appeal in civil cases, we lack jurisdiction to consider this direct appeal from the trial court’s order. See Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). This appeal is therefore DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/07/2021 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.