Bellew v. State Highway Dept., 47340
| Decision Date | 13 October 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 47340,No. 1,47340,1 |
| Citation | 127 Ga.App. 301,193 S.E.2d 202 |
| Parties | Arthur G. BELLEW v. STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT et al |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Harrison & Garner, G. Hughel Harrison, Lawrenceville, for appellant.
Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., Harold N. Hill, Jr., Executive Asst. Atty. Gen., Marion O. Gordon, G. Thomas Davis, Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, for appellees.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court
On July 23, 1971, A. G. Bellew, an employee of the State Highway Department of Georgia, was dismissed for 'misconduct reflecting discredit' on the department, by a letter from the Director of the Truck Weighing Division. He was also advised by letter of his right to appeal to the State Personnel Board, State Merit System of Personnel Administration. He appealed, and after a hearing, the board affirmed his dismissal on October 27, 1971.
The plaintiff applied for certiorari to review this ruling in the Superior Court of Fulton County on November 26, 1971 (but without sanction by the judge of superior court), and said application was served on the State Highway Department, the State Personnel Board, and the Attorney General on November 30, 1971.
The State Highway Department moved for dismissal of the petition, and thereafter answered said petition, denying the material portions thereof. The Personnel Board answered, sending up the entire record of the appeal or review of the employee's dismissal. Thereafter, the motion of the State Highway Department to dismiss came on for hearing, and the court granted said motion. The plaintiff appeals. Held:
1. An applicant for certiorari has thirty days from an adverse decision in which to apply for certiorari. See Code Ann. § 19-209 (Ga.L.1961, pp. 190, 191). He may file same with the clerk of superior court, after sanction by the judge, and the clerk will thereupon be required to issue a writ of certiorari. See Code § 19-203. But, absent sanction, the clerk has no authority to file the application or issue the writ of certiorari. See Snipes v. Houlihan, 81 Ga.App. 492(1), 59 S.E.2d 253 and cases there cited.
2. In the case sub judice, the applicant waited until the thirtieth day after rendition of the adverse decision before appearing at the Fulton County courthouse with his application for sanction. This was on Friday, November 26, 1971, the day after Thanksgiving, which day, by proclamation of the governor, was made a legal holiday to take the place of another legal holiday which had not been observed by closing the state-house offices. However, the Fulton County courthouse was open and business was being transacted therein. He did not secure the sanction of the judge, but filed same in the office of clerk of superior court without said sanction. The filing was a nullity under the authority of Snipes, supra.
3. Despite the failure of the judge to sanction the application for certiorari, after...
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Lee v. Hutson
...Although the sanction of the superior court judge is necessary for issuance of the writ of certiorari, Bellew v. State Highway Department, 127 Ga.App. 301, 193 S.E.2d 202 (1972), a refusal by the superior court judge to sanction issuance of the writ is reviewable by the Georgia courts of ap......
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Cobb County v. Herren, A97A2262
...clerk of the superior court has no authority to either file the application for certiorari or issue the writ. Bellew v. State Hwy. Dept., 127 Ga.App. 301, 193 S.E.2d 202 (1972). Sanctioning is an integral part of the application for certiorari and without it, the certiorari process cannot m......
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