Georgia Court of Appeals, 2021

Alexis Brian Harrison v. Jennifer Nicole Whitaker

Georgia Court of Appeals · Decided December 6, 2021

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________

November 24, 2021 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A22A0403. ALEXIS BRIAN HARRISON v. JENNIFER NICOLE

WHITAKER.

This is the second appearance of this case in our Court. In A21A0755, Alexis Brian Harrison appealed the trial court’s September 17, 2020, order denying his petition to modify child custody. We vacated that order and remanded to the trial court with direction. See Harrison v. Whitaker, __ Ga. App. __ (Case No. A21A0755, decided Aug. 26, 2021). We issued the remittitur on September 17, 2021. Two days before the remittitur issued—on September 15, 2021—the trial court entered a new custody order. The case was then transmitted to this Court on October 5, 2021.

We lack jurisdiction. “The timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court.” Harned v. Piedmont Healthcare Foundation, 356 Ga. App. 870, 871 (849 SE2d 726) (2020) (punctuation omitted). But the record contains no notice of appeal from the September 15, 2021, order.1 For this reason, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.2 Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________

11/24/2021

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.

1 The record does contain the notice of appeal from the trial court’s September 17, 2020 order, but to appeal the trial court’s September 15, 2021 order, a new notice of appeal was required. 2 We note, however, that the trial court entered the September 15 order before it had received remittitur from the first appeal, which issued on September 17, 2021. The Court of Appeals retains jurisdiction until remittitur is issued by the appellate court and received and filed by the trial court. See Temple v. Hillegass, 344 Ga. App. 454, 454-455 (810 SE2d 625) (2018). An order entered before remittitur is returned is a nullity. See id.

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