Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ March 24, 2025 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A25E0084. DARRYL WALTERS v. GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES.

On March 21, 2025, Darryl Walters filed an emergency motion under Court of Appeals Rule 40 (b) seeking review of the February 24, 2025 order of the Superior Court of DeKalb County denying, pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-2 (d), an affidavit of poverty filed by Walters. The affidavit of poverty was apparently filed with a notice of appeal Walters filed in the superior court. OCGA § 9-15-2 (d) provides:

When a civil action is presented for filing under this Code section by a party who is not represented by an attorney, the clerk of court shall not file the matter but shall present the complaint or other initial pleading to a judge of the court. The judge shall review the pleading and, if the judge determines that the pleading shows on its face such a complete absence of any justiciable issue of law or fact that it cannot be reasonably believed that the court could grant any relief against any party named in the pleading, then the judge shall enter an order denying the filing of the pleading. If the judge does not so find, then the judge shall enter an order allowing filing and shall return the pleading to the clerk for filing as in other cases. An order denying filing shall be appealable in the same manner as an order dismissing an action.

An order dismissing an action is generally directly appealable under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1). It does not appear that any provision of OCGA § 5-6-35, the discretionary appeal statute, applies here. Because the superior court’s order denying Walters’s affidavit of poverty is appealable in the same manner as an order dismissing an action, Walters’s emergency motion is DENIED. Walters is GRANTED an extension of time until April 25, 2025, to file a notice of appeal from the superior court’s February 24, 2025 order.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/24/2025 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.