Court Opinion

ID: 9577743
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:37:34.093692+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:21:10.223960
License: Public Domain

Birdsong, Presiding Judge,
concurring specially.
Because there is no evidence in this record to explain fully the *695circumstances as to why 714 days elapsed between the original filing of the complaint in this case and the ultimately successful personal service of process upon Ms. Siler, or why service by publication was not initiated long before the passage of almost two years, I am reluctantly forced to concede the absence of such evidence in the transcript compels this court to apply the presumption of regularity that the trial court properly exercised its discretion in finding Dr. Johns acted with sufficient diligence in effecting service. See Bank of Clear-water v. Kimbrel, 240 Ga. 570, 572 (242 SE2d 16); Lee v. Tollerson, 139 Ga. App. 446, 447 (228 SE2d 595).
The unexplained passage of 714 days between complaint and service of process upon its face cries out for a finding of lack of diligence and is wholly inconsistent with the demands for speedy and fair justice. A full development of facts in the record may well have mandated a different result. However in the face of the presumption of regularity of performance of duties by a public official, the exercise of discretion by the trial court following a hearing on the issue requires an affirmance of that exercise.