Court of Appeals

of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A21A0946. WARREN COOMBS v. JERE MOREHEAD et al. 

Following his expulsion fromthe University of Georgia, Warren Coombssued

the University’s president, Jere Moorehead, and the Board of Regents (collectively,

“the University”). The University filed a motion to dismiss the suit, which the trial

court granted. This appeal followed.

“Although not raised by either party, it is our duty to inquire into our

jurisdiction in any case in which there may be a doubt about the existence of such

jurisdiction.” Hunt v. Callahan, 353 Ga. App. 488, 488 (2) (838 SE2d 133) (2020)

(punctuation omitted). 

Ordinarily, a right of direct appeal lies from a final judgment, see OCGA §

5-6-34 (a) (1); however, an appellant is required to file an application for a

discretionary appeal from a judgment of a superior court reviewing the decision of a

state or local administrative agency. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1); OCGA § 5-6-35 (a)

(1), (b). Even if a plaintiff files a direct action in superior court, a discretionary

application is required if, in substance, the plaintiff seeks appellate review of an

administrative decision. See Hamryka v. City of Dawsonville, 291 Ga. 124, 125 (2)

(728 SE2d 197) (2012). “A ‘decision’, as it is used with reference to administrative

agencies, is a determination of an adjudicative nature. No formal adjudicative

procedure is required. An administrative determination is adjudicative in character

if it is particular and immediate, rather than, as in the case of legislative or rule

making action, general and future in effect.” Clay v. Douglasville-Douglas County

Water & Sewer Auth., 357 Ga. App. 434, 436 (1) (848 SE2d 733) (2020) (citations

and punctuation omitted). If a plaintiff in a civil action “attacks or defends the

March 26, 2021
validity of an administrative ruling and seeks to prevent or promote the enforcement

thereof, the trial courtmust necessarily review the administrative decision” to dispose

of the case. State of Ga. v. Intl. Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, 299 Ga. 392,

399 (4) (788 SE2d 455) (2016) (punctuation omitted).

As a threshold matter, the Board of Regentsis considered a state administrative

agency under OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1). See Wolfe v. Boards of Regents of the Univ.

Sys. of Georgia, 300 Ga. 223, 227 (2) (a) (794 SE2d 85) (2016). As the president of

the university, Moorehead acted on behalf of this agency. See id. at 229 (2) (c);

Keystone Knights, 299 Ga. at 407 (4) (a) (decision made by chief executive officer

of a department constitutes the agency’s decision). Thus, the relevant inquiry is

whether Coombs sought to appeal the agency’s administrative decision.

According to Coombs’s complaint, Moorehead sent hima letter informing him

of his expulsion. Coombs then pursued an administrative appeal. After exhausting his

administrative remedies,Coombsfiled suit in superior court. Coombs sought, among

other things, to have his expulsion set aside. In other words, Coombs was squarely

attacking the administrative decision to expel him. Under these circumstances,

Coombs wasrequired to file an application for discretionary appeal in order to obtain

appellate review. See Wolfe, 300 Ga. at 232-233 (2) (d). His failure to do so deprives

us of jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________

I certify that the above is a true extract from

the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Witness my signature and the seal of said court

hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.

03/26/2021