Grant v. Barge
Grant v. Barge
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Grant obtained a judgment in the amount of $4,269.83 against an attorney, Barge, in the State Court of Fulton County and caused a garnishment against DeKalb County to be served on December 12, 1980. On January 23, 1981, the county answered and filed an affidavit claiming sovereign immunity and denied that it had any funds belonging to Barge. On February 20, 1981, the county amended its answer and affidavit and stated that it had become indebted to the Association of Law Enforcement Officers of DeKalb County, Inc., and their attorneys because of a judgment
Under Code Ann. § 23-1502: “A county is not liable to suit for any cause of action unless made so by statute.” Code Ann. § 46-306 (first enacted as Ga. Laws 1976, pp. 1608,1615) provides for a limited waiver of sovereign immunity by permitting salaries of officials and employees of the state and its subdivisions to be made subject to garnishment. The act, however, is silent as to other funds in the hands of a subdivision of the state. Therefore, we are constrained to hold that such funds are still not subject to garnishment in Georgia. See Morgan v. Rust, 100 Ga. 346 (28 SE 419) (1897). As the trial court lacked jurisdiction, it was proper to set aside the judgment under Code Ann. § 81A-160 (d).
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.