Ga. Lottery Corp. v. 1100 Shorter Dollar, LLC.

• Decision Date: 22 August 2019
• Docket Number: A19A1298
• Citation: 351 Ga.App. 688,832 S.E.2d 665
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
• Parties: GEORGIA LOTTERY CORPORATION et al. v. 1100 SHORTER DOLLAR, LLC.

351 Ga.App. 688

832 S.E.2d 665

GEORGIA LOTTERY CORPORATION et al.

v.1100 SHORTER DOLLAR, LLC.

A19A1298

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

August 22, 2019

Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, W. Wright Banks, Jr., Deputy Attorney General, Julie A. Jacobs, Senior Assistant Attorney General, David V. Carson, Assistant Attorney General, for appellants.

Mills & Hoopes, Timothy S. Walls, Justyn D. Alioto, for appellee.

McFadden, Chief Judge.

Georgia Lottery Corporation and its president and chief executive officer appeal the order granting 1100 Shorter Dollar, LLC's petition for mandamus and denying Georgia Lottery Corporation's motion to dismiss the petition.

Georgia Lottery Corporation Rules provide a mechanism for seeking a stay of its orders — the relief Shorter Dollar sought in its mandamus petition — but Shorter Dollar did not pursue that mechanism. We express no opinion about whether that mechanism is still available to Shorter Dollar. But because it was available at some time, Shorter Dollar cannot pursue that relief via mandamus. So we reverse.

The relevant facts are largely undisputed. Shorter Dollar is a retail business in Rome, Georgia that operates Class B coin-operated amusement machines ("COAMs") pursuant to a license granted by Georgia Lottery Corporation under the COAM laws. See OCGA §§ 16-12-35 ; 50-27-70 — 50-27-104. See generally Gebrekidan v. City of Clarkston , 298 Ga. 651, 655-658 (3) (a), 784 S.E.2d 373 (2016).

Georgia Lottery Corporation issued a citation to Shorter Dollar alleging that Shorter Dollar violated Georgia Lottery Corporation Rule 13.1.10 (5) and OCGA § 50-27-84 (c) and (e) by failing to provide certain monthly reports. The matter was referred to a hearing officer, who conducted a hearing on March 21, 2018. Shorter Dollar failed to appear. The hearing officer found Shorter Dollar guilty of the charge, imposed a $5,000 fine, and revoked Shorter Dollar's COAM license, effective immediately. Instead of filing a motion for reconsideration or seeking further review from the chief executive officer of Georgia Lottery Corporation as contemplated by the Georgia Lottery Corporation Rules, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-2-19-.05 (1), Shorter Dollar filed a petition for certiorari review of the hearing officer's decision.

When Georgia Lottery Corporation failed to reinstate Shorter Dollar's license and reactivate its COAMs, Shorter Dollar filed this petition for a writ of mandamus, asking the trial court to order Georgia Lottery Corporation to reinstate Shorter Dollar's license and to reactivate its COAMs. The mandamus petition was transferred to the same judge presiding over the certiorari petition. Georgia Lottery Corporation filed a limited appearance answer and moved to dismiss the petition. The superior court agreed with Shorter Dollar, granted the petition for writ of mandamus, denied the motion to dismiss, and ordered the chief executive officer of Georgia Lottery Corporation to allow Shorter Dollar to operate its location license, to reconnect its COAMs, and to restore Shorter Dollar's COAM licensing rights pending resolution of the certiorari action or further order in the mandamus action. This appeal followed.

"The writ of mandamus is properly issued only if (1) no other adequate legal remedy is available to effectuate the relief sought; and (2) the applicant has a clear legal right to such relief." Ga. Assn. of Professional Process Servers v. Jackson , 302 Ga. 309, 312 (2), 806 S.E.2d 550 (2017) (citation and punctuation omitted). Accord Gaddy v. Ga. Dept. of Revenue , 301 Ga. 552, 561-562 (3), 802 S.E.2d 225 (2017) ("Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy to compel a public officer to perform a required duty when there is no other adequate legal remedy.") (citation and punctuation omitted); OCGA § 9-6-20 ("[T]he writ of mandamus may issue to compel a due performance if there is no other specific legal remedy for the legal rights ...."). Shorter Dollar "bears the burden to show that it lacks an adequate legal remedy so that an action for mandamus will lie." Merchant Law Firm v. Emerson , 301 Ga. 609, 611 (1), 800 S.E.2d 557 (2017).

An "adequate remedy at law" is defined as "[a] legal remedy ... that provides sufficient relief to the petitioning party, thus preventing the party from obtaining equitable relief." Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019). "(W)here a statute provides a party with a means of review by an administrative agency, such procedure is generally an adequate remedy at law so as to preclude the grant of equitable relief." Ga. Dept. of Human Svcs. v. Addison , 304 Ga. 425, 433 (4), 819 S.E.2d 20 (2018) (citation and punctuation omitted). Moreover, "[i]f there be a specific remedy by certiorari, the right of mandamus will not lie." DeKalb County v. Wal-Mart Stores , 278 Ga. 501, 502, 604 S.E.2d 162 (2004) (citation and punctuation omitted).

Shorter Dollar had the opportunity to pursue administrative and certiorari review. The COAM rules provide an administrative appeal procedure that involves requesting reconsideration from the hearing officer and then moving for review by the president and chief executive officer. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r....