Opinion
A25A0156
08-14-2024
CEDRIC JONES v. KIARA ROBERTS.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Kiara Roberts filed a petition to hold Cedric Jones in contempt for failure to pay child support. After the trial court found him in contempt, Jones filed this direct appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction.
"Appeals from judgments or orders in divorce, alimony, and other domestic relations cases" must be made by filing an application for discretionary review. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (2), (b). Where the issue on appeal is child support, the case is a domestic relations case within the meaning of the statute. See Booker v. Ga. Dept. of Human Resources, 317 Ga.App. 426, 427 (731 S.E.2d 110) (2012) (an action in which the "underlying subject matter is [the] obligation to provide child support" is "a domestic relations case subject to review only by application"); see also Russo v. Manning, 252 Ga. 155, 155 (312 S.E.2d 319) (1984) ("A judgment of contempt regarding a domestic relations decree is appealable only by application for discretionary appeal."). Although OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (11) permits a direct appeal from an order holding a party in contempt of certain child custody rulings, the contempt order here was based solely on failure to pay child support and thus may not be appealed directly. See Voyles v. Voyles, 301 Ga. 44, 47 (799 S.E.2d 160) (2017) (holding that it is the issue raised on appeal that determines the proper appellate procedure).
Jones's failure to follow the discretionary appeal procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.