Opinion
A24D0203
01-23-2024
SEABORN ENTERPRISE 2, LLC v. UNITED GAMING LLC.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Seaborn Enterprise 2, LLC, filed this timely application for discretionary review, seeking to appeal a superior court order dismissing Seaborn's petition for review of a Georgia Lottery Corporation ("GLC") decision and affirming the GLC's judgment. Under OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1) &(b), "[a]ppeals from decisions of the superior courts reviewing decisions of the State Board of Workers' Compensation, the State Board of Education, auditors, state and local administrative agencies, and lower courts by certiorari or de novo proceedings" must be initiated by filing an application for discretionary review. But the statute creating the GLC expressly provides that it is "not a state agency." OCGA § 50-27-4. A superior court order reviewing a GLC decision therefore "does not fall within the ambit of OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1)," and an application for discretionary review thus is not required here. Amusement Leasing v. Ga. Lottery Corp., 352 Ga.App. 243, 246 (1) (834 S.E.2d 330) (2019).
Under OCGA § 5-6-35 (j), this Court will grant a timely application for discretionary review if the lower court's order is subject to direct appeal. See City of Rincon v. Couch, 272 Ga.App. 411, 412 (612 S.E.2d 596) (2005). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Seaborn shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal in the superior court. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (g). If Seaborn already has filed a notice of appeal in the superior court, then it need not file a second notice. The clerk of the superior court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the record transmitted to the Court of Appeals.