2021 Georgia Code
Title 50 - State Government
Chapter 13 - Administrative Procedure
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 50-13-20. Review of Final Judgment

An aggrieved party may obtain a review of any final judgment of the superior court under this chapter by the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court, as provided by law. In contested cases involving a license to practice medicine or a license to practice dentistry in this state, the filing of an application for appeal or a notice of appeal shall not by itself stay enforcement of the agency decision. In such cases, the superior court which considered the petition for judicial review or the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court may order a stay only if such court makes a finding that the public health, safety, and welfare will not be harmed by the issuance of the stay.

(Ga. L. 1964, p. 338, § 21; Ga. L. 1988, p. 388, § 1.)

- Procedure for appeals from decisions of superior courts reviewing decisions of state and local administrative agencies, § 5-6-35.

- For survey article on appellate practice and procedure, see 60 Mercer L. Rev. 21 (2008). For annual survey of law on administrative law, see 62 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (2010). For annual survey on administrative law, see 70 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (2018).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Interlocutory appeals unavailable.

- Under O.C.G.A. § 50-13-20, the Court of Appeals has jurisdiction only of final judgment of a reviewing court and O.C.G.A. § 5-6-34, providing for interlocutory appeal upon certificate of immediate review, does not govern. Hardison v. Booth, 160 Ga. App. 69, 286 S.E.2d 60 (1981).

Denial of motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction was not "final judgment" within meaning of this section and was, therefore, not appealable. Georgia State Bd. of Pharmacy v. Purvis, 155 Ga. App. 597, 271 S.E.2d 870 (1980).

Remand order is not appealable final judgment. Georgia Consumer Ctr., Inc. v. Georgia Power Co., 150 Ga. App. 511, 258 S.E.2d 250 (1979).

Georgia Court of Appeals did not have jurisdiction over an appeal from a decision of a superior court remanding a case involving a challenge to a permit to build a community dock issued under the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-5-286(a), to an administrative law judge for further consideration. The order was not final as required under O.C.G.A. § 50-13-20. Coastal Marshlands Prot. Comm. v. Altamaha Riverkeeper, Inc., 304 Ga. App. 1, 695 S.E.2d 273, cert. denied, No. S10C1494, 2010 Ga. LEXIS 745 (Ga. 2010).

Superior court order remanding a case back to the administrative tribunal does not constitute a final judgment. State Health Planning Review Bd. v. Piedmont Hosp., 173 Ga. App. 450, 326 S.E.2d 814 (1985).

- Trial court's remand order to the Public Service Commission after making a determination that the matter should be treated as a rate case, rather than a mere accounting matter, was a final order or judgment subject to direct appeal. Georgia Public Serv. Comm'n v. Campaign for a Prosperous Ga., 229 Ga. App. 28, 492 S.E.2d 916 (1997).

- ALJ order remanding a case to the Coastal Marshlands Protection Committee was functionally and substantively an appealable final judgment; the remand did more than merely return the case for consideration of additional issues and evidence, but was ordered on the basis that the committee erred as a matter of law in the committee's construction of a statute. Coastal Marshlands Prot. Comm. v. Ctr. for a Sustainable Coast, 286 Ga. App. 518, 649 S.E.2d 619 (2007), aff'd, 284 Ga. 736, 670 S.E.2d 429 (2008).

- State Board of Pharmacy, being an agency which is also defined as a party, has the authority to appeal an adverse judgment of the superior court. Georgia State Bd. of Pharmacy v. Bennett, 126 Ga. App. 307, 190 S.E.2d 788 (1972).

- Superior court's decision that a candidate had not shown irreparable harm justifying immediate appeal to the superior court under O.C.G.A. § 50-13-19(a) from an interim decision of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission was a final decision appealable to the Court of Appeals. Oxendine v. Gov't Transparency & Campaign Fin. Comm'n, 341 Ga. App. 901, 802 S.E.2d 310 (2017).

Cited in Howell v. Harden, 129 Ga. App. 200, 198 S.E.2d 890 (1973); Howell v. Harden, 231 Ga. 594, 203 S.E.2d 206 (1974); Graham v. Board of Exmrs., 133 Ga. App. 430, 211 S.E.2d 385 (1974); Georgia Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Southern Bell, 254 Ga. 244, 327 S.E.2d 726 (1985); Johnsen v. Collins, 875 F. Supp. 1571 (S.D. Ga. 1994); Atmos Energy Corp. v. Ga. PSC, 290 Ga. App. 243, 659 S.E.2d 385 (2008); Atmos Energy Corp. v. Ga. PSC, 290 Ga. App. 243, 659 S.E.2d 385 (2008); Longleaf Energy Assocs., LLC v. Friends of the Chattahoochee, Inc., 298 Ga. App. 753, 681 S.E.2d 203 (2009); DeKalb County Sch. Dist. v. Ga. State Bd. of Educ., 294 Ga. 349, 751 S.E.2d 827 (2013); C&M Enters. of Ga., LLC v. Williams, 346 Ga. App. 79, 816 S.E.2d 44 (2018), cert. denied, No. S18C1407, 2019 Ga. LEXIS 52 (Ga. 2019).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 2 Am. Jur. 2d, Administrative Law, § 639 et seq.

- 73A C.J.S., Public Administrative Law and Procedure, § 467 et seq.

- Model State Administrative Procedure Act (U.L.A.) § 5-101 et seq.

- Approval of or refusal to approve bond of public officer as subject of judicial review, 134 A.L.R. 1359.