In re C.B., No. A11A1626.

• Court: United States Court of Appeals (Georgia)
• Writing for the Court: ADAMS
• Citation: 12 FCDR 454,313 Ga.App. 778,723 S.E.2d 21
• Docket Number: No. A11A1626.
• Decision Date: 30 January 2012
• Parties: In the Interest of C.B., a child.

12 FCDR 454
313 Ga.App. 778
723 S.E.2d 21

In the Interest of C.B., a child.

No. A11A1626.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Jan. 30, 2012.

[723 S.E.2d 21]

Kimberly Ann Gross, Jonesboro, Walker L. Chandler, Zebulon, for appellant.

Scott L. Ballard, Dist. Atty., Christy Robert Jindra, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.

ADAMS, Judge.

[313 Ga.App. 778] An arrest warrant was issued on July 29, 2009, against then 15–year–old C.B.¹ on charges of aggravated sexual battery, aggravated child molestation, aggravated assault, cruelty to children in the first degree and false imprisonment, and it appears undisputed that C.B. has been detained since that date. Because the offenses C.B. was alleged to have committed included aggravated child molestation and aggravated sexual battery, the superior court was vested with exclusive jurisdiction over the case pursuant to OCGA § 15–11–28(b)(2)(A)(v), (vi), and an indictment was returned against [313 Ga.App. 779] C.B. charging her with these and other offenses on February 1, 2010.

Because she was not indicted within 180 days of her detention as required by OCGA § 17–7–50.1, the superior court entered an order granting C.B.'s motion to transfer the case to the juvenile court. However, shortly after the case was transferred to the juvenile court, the State filed a motion to transfer the

[723 S.E.2d 22]

case back to the superior court pursuant to the provisions of OCGA § 15–11–30.2. Following a hearing, the juvenile court granted the motion, and C.B. filed the present appeal from that order.² Because we find that the juvenile court erred by transferring the case back to the superior court under the circumstances here, we reverse.

As the superior court properly found, it was required to transfer the case to the juvenile court pursuant to the mandatory provisions of OCGA § 17–7–50.1, which provide in relevant part as follows:

(a) Any child who is charged with a crime that is within the jurisdiction of the superior court, as provided in Code Section 15–11–28 or 15–11–30.2, who is detained shall within 180 days of the date of detention be entitled to have the charge against him or her presented to the grand jury....

Further, subsection (b) of that Code section provides that:

(b) If the grand jury does not return a true bill against the detained child within the time limitations set forth in subsection (a) of this Code section, the detained child's case shall be transferred to the juvenile court and shall proceed thereafter as provided in Chapter 11 of Title 15.

In this case, the State failed to procure an indictment against C.B. within 180 days of the date she was detained. Thus, pursuant to the mandatory language of that section as well as recent precedent of this Court, the superior court lost jurisdiction of the case and was required to transfer the case to the appropriate juvenile court. Hill v. State, 309 Ga.App. 531, 710 S.E.2d 667 (2011); see also Nunnally v. State, 311 Ga.App. 558, 559(1), 716 S.E.2d 608 (2011). And, in any event, the transfer from the superior to the juvenile court has not been challenged. Rather, the question here is whether the transfer back to the superior court pursuant to OCGA § 15–11–30.2 was...