# C o u rt o f

A p p ea ls

o f t h e S t a te o f

G eo rg ia

ATLANTA,_

_ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _

Th e Co u rt

o f Ap p ea l s h er eb y p a s s es t h e f

o ll owi n g o r der :

A2 3 A1 29 3 . J ONES v . CI TY OF ATLANTA.

A. Tho mas J o n e s f

i led the u nd erlying c lass ac tio n law su it, w hic h he

su bsequ ently amend e d

, alleging that c ertain City o f A tlanta water and sew er u se

o rd inanc es w e re u nc o nstitu tio nal, and that th e ch a r g e s co l l e cted und e r the o rd inanc es

w ere illegal taxes. Jo nes argu es, inter alia, that the o r d inanc es a re unau tho r iz ed u nd er

the Geo rgia Co nstitu t io n, vio late c o nstitu tio nal d ue p ro c e ss p ro tec tio ns and serv e as

u nj u st tak ings w itho u t c o m p ensatio n. T h e Ci ty fi l ed a m ot i o n fo r j u d gm en t o n t h e

p l ead i n g s

, an d J o nes fi l ed a m o t io n fo r p art i al s u m m ary ju d g m en t

. Th e t ri al co u rt

i s su ed an o rd er g ran t i n g t h e Ci t y ’ s m o t i o n an d d en y i n g Jo n es ’ s m o t i o n

. J o n es fi l ed

a n o t i ce o f ap p eal wi th t h i s Co u rt s eek in g rev i ew o f t h e t ri al co u rt ’ s o rd er. 1

Th e Su p rem e Co u rt o f Geo rg i a “ h as ex cl u s iv e ju ri s d i c t i o n ov er al l cas es

i n v o l v i n g co n s t ru ct i o n o f t h e Co n s t i t u t i o n o f t h e St at e o f Geo rg i a an d o f t he Un i t ed

St at es an d a l l cas es i n wh i ch t h e co n s t i t u ti on al i t y o f a l aw, o rd i nan ce, o r

1 This is the sec o nd ap p eal in the u nd erlying c ase. See Jo n e s v

. C ity o f Atla n ta

, 36 0 Ga. A p p

. 1 5 2 ( 86 0 SE2d 833) (2021 ) (“ Jo n es I” )

. I n Jo nes I

, J o nes f iled his ap p eal

w ith the Su p reme Co u rt o f Geo rgia. See id

. at 153. T he Su p reme C o u r t t r an s f erred

the matter to this Co u rt bec au se that ap peal w as of the trial c o u rt’ s ord er d ismissing

the c ase f o r lac k o f j u risd ic tio n d u e to J o nes’ s f ailu r e to “ t imely seek j u d ic ial rev iew

o f A p p ellee’ s Water a nd Sew er B o ard ’ s denial o f his ref u nd requ est,” and theref

o re

the trial c o urt erred in reac hing an alternativ e d eterminatio n that the City’ s

o rd inanc es we r e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l

. T h i s C o u r t “r e v e r s e [ d ] t h e t r ial c o urt’ s d eterminatio n

that it lac k ed j u risd ic tio n” a nd remand ed the matter to the trial co u rt. See id

. at 1 57

. February 08, 2024co n st i t u t io n al pro vi s io n h as b een cal l ed in t o q u es t i o n

. ” At la n t a In d ep en d en t S ch o ol

S ys t em v. La ne

, 2 6 6 Ga. 6 57

, 6 5 7 (1 ) (4 6 9 SE2 d 2 2 ) (1 99 6 ) (ci ti n g G a

. C o n s t

. o f

1 9 8 3

, Art

. VI, Sec. V I, Pa r

. I I (1 )). Th i s ex cl us i v e ju ri s di ct i o n ex ten d s “ o n l y to

co n st i t u t io n al is s u es t h at w ere d i s t i n c t l y ru l ed o n b y t h e t ri al co u rt an d t h at d o n ot

i n v o l v e t he ap p l i cat i o n o f u n qu es t i o n ed an d u nam b i g u o u s co n s ti t u t i on al p ro v i s i on s

o r ch al l en g es to l aws p rev i o u s l y h el d t o b e co n s t it u t i o n al ag ai n s t t h e sam e at t ack .”

S t a t e v. Da vi s

, 30 3 Ga. 6 84

, 6 87 (1 ) (8 1 4 SE2 d 7 0 1 ) (2 0 1 8 ) (ci t at i o n an d pu n ct u at i o n

o m it t e d )

. Here, t h e t ri al co u rt ex p res s l y reject ed J o n es ’ s cl ai m s t h at t h e o rd i n an ces

are u n co n s t i t u t i o nal

, an d h is cl ai m s ap p ear t o p res en t an i ss u e o f f i r s t i m p r es s i o n

.

As t h e Su p rem e Co u rt h as t h e u l t i m at e res p o n s i b i l i t y fo r det erm in in g ap p el l at e

ju ri s d i ct i o n

, s e e S

a xt o n v. Co a s t a l Di a l

ys i s & Med

. Cl i n i c

, 2 6 7 Ga. 1 77

, 1 7 8 (4 7 6

SE2 d 5 8 7 ) (1 9 9 6), t h i s ap p e a l i s TRANSFERRED t o t h e Su p rem e Co u rt fo r

d i s p o s i t i on

.

C o u r t o f A p p e a ls o f t h e S t a t e o f G e o r g ia

C le r k ’ s O ffic e , A t la n t a ,

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I c e r t ify t h a t t h e a b o v e is a tr u e e x t

r a c t fr o m

t h e m in u t e s o f t h e C o u r t o f A pp e a ls o f G e o r g ia

.

W it n e s s m y s ig n a t u r e a n d t h e s e a l o f s a id c o u r t

h e r e t o a ffix e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r la s t a b o v e w r

it t e n

.

, C le r

k

. 02/08/2024