Opinion
A22A0883
03-07-2022
IN THE INTEREST OF K. M. D., A CHILD.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Appellants Keith and Christine Owen ("the Owens") filed a petition to adopt K. M. D. in Union County Superior Court, and they moved for immediate temporary custody. On April 12, 2021, the superior court denied the motion for temporary custody, finding that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the case since K. M. D. was in the custody of Upson County Department of Family and Children's Services. The Owens filed a motion for reconsideration from the ruling. On July 6, 2021, the superior court denied the motion for reconsideration and dismissed the action. The Owens filed a second motion for reconsideration. In addition to reiterating arguments raised in the prior motion for reconsideration, the Owens sought the judge's recusal. The trial court denied the second motion for reconsideration on August 31, 2021, and the Owens filed a notice of appeal on September 20, 2021. We lack jurisdiction.
A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after the entry of an appealable order. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). "The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction upon an appellate court." Perlman v. Perlman, 318 Ga.App. 731, 739 (4) (734 S.E.2d 560) (2012) (punctuation omitted). Here, the Owens filed their notice of appeal within 30 days of the trial court's order denying the second motion for reconsideration. However, the filing of a motion for reconsideration does not extend the time for filing a notice of appeal, and the denial of a motion for reconsideration is not itself a directly appealable order. See Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga.App. 510, 511 (536 S.E.2d 187) (2000); Savage v. Newsome, 173 Ga.App. 271, 271 (326 S.E.2d 5) (1985).
Because the trial court dismissed the action on July 6, 2021, the Owens were required to file a notice of appeal within 30 days of that date. Their failure to do so deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.
The fact that the Owens sought the judge's recusal in their second motion for reconsideration does not change the result. The trial court's order, in substance, served only to deny the motion for reconsideration as the trial court did not address the issue of recusal. See Forest City Gun Club v. Chatham County, 280 Ga.App. 219, 220 (633 S.E.2d 623) (2006) (appellate court construes orders according to substance and function). Furthermore, any motion to recuse made after final judgment would be untimely. See Jarallah v. Pickett Suite Hotel, 193 Ga.App. 325, 327 (3) (388 S.E.2d 333) (1989).