Georgia Court of Appeals, 2017

Kayla Darnell v. Whitfield County

Kayla Darnell v. Whitfield County
Georgia Court of Appeals · Decided September 15, 2017

Kayla Darnell v. Whitfield County

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ September 14, 2017 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A18A0228. KAYLA DARNELL v. WHITFIELD COUNTY.

Kayla Darnell filed a civil action against Whitfield County, asserting a county deputy negligently drove a county vehicle into her vehicle while acting within the scope of his employment. On May 23, 2017, the trial court granted summary judgment to Whitfield County. Thereafter, Darnell filed a motion for reconsideration, which the trial court denied on June 12, 2017. Darnell filed her notice of appeal on June 28, 2017. We, however, lack jurisdiction.

A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of the entry of the order sought to be appealed. 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 SE2d 560) (2012) (punctuation omitted). Instead of filing a timely notice of appeal from the trial court’s May 23, 2017 summary judgment order, Darnell filed a motion for reconsideration. However, the denial of a motion for reconsideration is not directly appealable, and the filing of such a motion does not extend the time for filing an appeal. Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 511 (536 SE2d 187) (2000); Savage v. Newsome, 173 Ga. App. 271, 271- (326 SE2d 5) (1985). Because Darnell failed to file a notice of appeal within 30 days of the entry of the appealable judgment entered against her, this untimely appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 09/14/2017 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.

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