Henry Louis Dobbs v. Sandy Janelle Ware

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ September 22, 2016

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A17A0277. HENRY LOUIS DOBBS v. SANDY JANELLE WARE.

Henry Louis Dobbs, a state prisoner, has filed a notice of appeal of the trial court’s order dismissing without prejudice his petition for a name change. We lack jurisdiction.

First, Dobbs’s appeal is untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the appealable decision or judgment complained of. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. See Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872 (1) (452 SE2d 756) (1995). The trial court entered its dismissal order on January 15, 2016, but Dobbs did not file his notice of appeal until April 7, 2016, 83 days later.1

1 While Dobbs states in his notice of appeal that the trial court did not notify him of the dismissal until sometime after March 15, 2016, a trial court’s failure to timely notify a defendant of an order does not extend the time to file an appeal, and the proper remedy in such situations is to file a motion to set aside the order. See Morgan v. Starks, 214 Ga. App. 265, 266 (447 SE2d 651) (1994); Robinson v. Kemp Motor Sales, 185 Ga. App. 492, 493 (364 SE2d 623) (1988).

Second, Dobbs has failed to file an application for discretionary appeal as required. There is no right of direct appeal in civil cases filed by prisoners. See OCGA § 42-12-8. A prisoner seeking to appeal in a civil case must file an application for discretionary appeal, and failure to do so requires that the appeal be dismissed. See id.; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997).

Dobbs’s appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 09/22/2016 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 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.