Opinion
A24A0310
10-19-2023
WILLIAM BURKE v. ROSA CHILDS et al.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
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 filed a notice of appeal, but we dismissed the appeal for failure to file an application for discretionary appeal. See Case No. A21A1604 (July 7, 2021). Back in the trial court, Burke filed a motion to set aside the trial court's dismissal of the case. The trial court dismissed the motion, and Burke now appeals directly to this Court, but we again lack jurisdiction.
Burke directed his appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia, which transferred it here. Case No. S23A1190 (August 10, 2023).
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 S.E.2d 24) (1997). This appeal is therefore DISMISSED.