Opinion
A23D0384
07-31-2023
JENNIE L. DOYLE v. ADON D. HAAS.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
In this divorce proceeding, Adon Haas requested equitable caregiver status as to Jennie Doyle's child under the Equitable Caregiver Statute, OCGA § 19-7-3.1. Doyle filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that OCGA § 19-7-3.1 was unconstitutional for various reasons. The trial court denied Doyle's motion, concluding that the statute was constitutional. The court then held a hearing and issued a final judgment and divorce decree, which granted Haas equitable caregiver status. Doyle filed this application, specifically arguing that the trial court erred by finding that her constitutional challenge to the statute lacked merit.
The Supreme Court "has exclusive jurisdiction over all cases involving construction of the Constitution of the State of Georgia and of the United States and all cases in which the constitutionality of a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision has been called into question." Atlanta Independent School System v. Lane, 266 Ga. 657, 657 (1) (469 S.E.2d 22) (1996) (citing Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. II (1)). This exclusive jurisdiction extends "only to constitutional issues that were distinctly ruled upon by the trial court and that do not involve the application of unquestioned and unambiguous constitutional provisions or challenges to laws previously held to be constitutional against the same attack." State v. Davis, 303 Ga. 684, 687 (1) (814 S.E.2d 701) (2018) (citation and punctuation omitted).
Here, the trial court expressly ruled on Doyle's constitutional challenge to OCGA § 19-7-3.1 and jurisdiction of this application appears to lie in the Supreme Court. We therefore TRANSFER this appeal to the Supreme Court for disposition.