In re Declaration of Judicial Emergency

358 Ga.App. 48

853 S.E.2d 366

IN RE DECLARATION OF JUDICIAL EMERGENCY.

A21A0081

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

December 30, 2020

Randolph Frails, Augusta, Wayne Brown, Tameka Daniele Haynes, Augusta, for Appellant.

John B. Long, Augusta, Carl C. Brown Jr., for Appellee.

Barnes, Presiding Judge.

The City of Augusta, its Mayor, and the Commissioners of Augusta-Richmond County (hereinafter "the appellants")¹ appeal from the order of Carl C. Brown, Jr., Chief Judge of the Richmond County Superior Court (hereinafter "Chief Judge"), captioned, "Designating 401 Walton Way & Craig-Houghton Elementary School as the Augusta-Richmond County Judicial Center John H. Ruffin, Jr. Courthouse Annexes for the Conduct of Judicial Business" (hereinafter, "the Order"). The appellants contend that the Order exceeds the scope of judicial emergency orders pursuant to OCGA § 38-3-61, that the Order impermissibly extends beyond the statutory 30-day duration of judicial emergency orders, and that the trial court committed reversible error by designating 401 Walton Way and Craig-Houghton Elementary School as courthouse annexes, ordering the renovation of 401 Walton Way and a property exchange with the Richmond County Board of Education for the Craig-Houghton Elementary School, appointing receivers to manage the renovation, and requiring that the renovation costs be paid out of the county registry. For the reasons explained below, we dismiss the appeal.

OCGA § 38-3-61 (a) provides in pertinent part that the Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and any other "authorized judicial official is authorized to declare the existence of a judicial emergency which shall be done by order either upon his or her own motion or upon motion by any interested person."² On March 14, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chief Justice entered an order declaring a statewide judicial emergency. The emergency order, among other things, suspended most court proceedings, including grand juries and jury trials. See OCGA § 38-3-62.³

Since the docketing of this appeal, the Chief Justice's emergency order had been extended nine times.⁴

On July 24, 2020, the Chief Judge entered the order at issue in this appeal. The Order first provided that "IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED that a Judicial Emergency exists in Richmond County, Georgia, affecting the courts such that there is a serious emergency affecting the court's ability to conduct jury trials and other business, pursuant to OCGA § 38-3-60 (2) (D)." (Capitalization in original.) The Order then acknowledged the Chief Justice's declaration of a statewide judicial emergency and incorporated the order and extensions declaring a statewide judicial emergency. The Order also included information supporting the need for additional space, including information about the feasibility of using 401 Walton Way and Craig-Houghton Elementary School as judicial annexes.

The Chief Judge then ordered that, pursuant to OCGA § 15-6-18 (a),⁵ Building A of 401 Walton Way be "declared an Augusta-Richmond County Judicial Center John H. Ruffin, Jr. Courthouse Annex for the purposes of conducting jury trials and any other official Court business," and that "[t]he premises shall be rendered suitable for the conduct of Court business by the Mayor and Commissioners of Augusta-Richmond County in the following manner." The Chief Judge then provided instructions for the completion of the work, including contracting with an architect, conducting asbestos surveys, and obtaining work permits. The Chief Judge further instructed that the tasks be completed within 330 days.

Additionally, the Chief Judge ordered that, pursuant to OCGA § 15-6-18 (a), the Craig-Houghton Elementary School would also be declared a courthouse annex for the purposes of conducting jury trials and other official court business, and directed that the Mayor and County Commissioners render the premises suitable for the conduct of court business within 90 days.

The Chief Judge appointed receivers to manage the project "pursuant to OCGA § 9-8-3,"⁶ and ordered that the funds necessary to effectuate the directives be paid "out of the county registry, pursuant to OCGA § 15-6-24," which, the Chief Judge asserted "requires payment of all contingent expenses incurred in holding any session of Court to be paid out of the county registry."⁷ In a footnote following the citation to OCGA § 15-6-24, the Chief Judge noted: "Submitted as Certificate of Need. See McCorkle v. Judges of Superior Court of Chatham County , 260 Ga. 315, 392 S.E.2d 707 (1990)." The Chief Judge instructed that the Order would remain in effect until "such time as it is no longer impossible or impractical to conduct the business of the court without the benefit [of] 401 Walton Way and Craig-Houghton." "[A]ll parties and Receivers" were ordered to appear at a status hearing on September 16, 2020.⁸

The appellants filed a notice of appeal from the Order on July, 29, 2020, and on August 5, 2020, the case was docketed on an expedited basis in this Court pursuant to OCGA § 38-3-64.⁹ The appeal was subsequently transferred to the Supreme Court on September 21, 2020, and later reinstated in this Court on November 9, 2020.¹⁰

In response to the appellants’ contentions that the Order exceeds the scope of judicial emergency orders, the Chief Judge asserts that the inherent powers of the judiciary authorized his actions because, despite three years of discussion about appropriating the properties, the appellants had not yet provided the promised additional space for the juvenile court, and that additional space is needed to protect jurors and maintain the Governor's social distancing recommendations.

The Chief Judge further asserts that the appellants acted in bad faith by failing to complete the previously agreed upon exchange of the Craig Houghton Elementary School for county property next to a high school. According to the Chief Judge, he is authorized to require that the exchange be completed because the property was needed to "comply with the law relating to children in need of services."

The Chief Judge also maintains that he was authorized to use his inherent judicial power to require the renovation of the 401 Walton Way building because the appellants were doing "nothing to provide a juvenile court facility as they at one time promised," and that the juvenile problems were "fester[ing]" and could not be addressed without the additional space. He asserts authority pursuant to OCGA § 9-8-1¹¹ to appoint receivers to manage the properties, and contends that the inherent powers of the judiciary also authorized the payment of the renovations from the county registry.

An amici curiae brief was filed by 33 "members of the Georgia Bar [who] regularly practic[e] in the Augusta Judicial Circuit." The amici curiae assert, among other things, that the appeal should be dismissed because the facts and arguments should be fully developed and resolved below before appellate review, the case is not ripe for review, and the appellants are seeking an advisory opinion from this Court. They also assert that under OCGA § 38-3-64 (a), the appellant must be a " ‘person’ whose rights or interests are adversely affected" by a judicial emergency order, and the City of Augusta is not a person, nor has it been adversely affected by the appellee's order, as it has taken no action to comply with the Order and has not suffered any adverse consequences from the Order.

In addition, they maintain that the Chief Judge's order is not an emergency order issued under OCGA §§ 38-3-60 and 38-3-61, as the Order was "submitted as a certificate of need" pursuant to OCGA § 15-6-24, and the appellants have not followed the procedure for a county to challenge an order requiring expenditure of county funds pursuant to that statute, including filing a protest or objection to the certificate of need in the superior court. This Court lacks jurisdiction for the following reasons.

1. Accepting without deciding that this appeal falls under OCGA §§ 38-3-60 and 38-3-61, we note that procedurally, such emergency appeals are heard expeditiously. See OCGA § 38-3-64 (c). However, OCGA § 38-3-64 is not the only authority governing this Court's jurisdiction over this appeal, and the statute must be construed in connection and in harmony with the fundamental rules governing appellate jurisdiction in Georgia, including the scope of this Court's jurisdiction under Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. V, Par. III. See Wilson v. Miles , 218 Ga. App. 806, 808 (2), 463 S.E.2d 381 (1995) ("It is well settled in this jurisdiction that all statutes are presumed to be enacted by the legislature with full knowledge of the existing condition of the law and with reference to it; that they are to be construed in connection and in harmony with the existing law; and that their meaning and effect will be determined in connection, not only with the common law and the Constitution, but also with reference to other statutes and the decisions of the courts.") (citation and punctuation omitted).

This Court's jurisdiction is granted by Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. V, Par. III, which states that this Court

shall be a court of review and shall exercise appellate and certiorari jurisdiction in all cases not reserved to the Supreme Court or conferred on other courts by law. The decisions of [this Court] insofar as not in conflict with those of the Supreme Court shall bind all courts except the Supreme Court as precedents.

An appeal which does not fall within this Court's jurisdiction must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Standridge v. Spillers , 263 Ga. App. 401, 403 (1), 587 S.E.2d 862 (2003). Because the Georgia Constitution describes "the nature and function of this Court as being ‘a court of review,’ " this Court "is a court for the correction of errors of law made by the trial courts." See General Motors Corp. v. Blake , 237 Ga. App. 426, 427 (1) & n. 1, 515 S.E.2d 166 (1999).

[The Supreme] Court and

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