Court Opinion

ID: 9581512
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:15:41.029236+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:37:01.836437
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
Under the provisions of Code Ann. § 81A-105 (d) the filing of the pleading must take place within the time allowed for service, and filing means filing with the clerk of court. Code Ann. § 81A-105 (d). Code Ann. § 81A-112 (a) states: "A defendant shall serve his answer within 30 days after the service of the summons and complaint upon him, unless otherwise provided by statute.”
*491This clearly fixes the time for filing the answer with the clerk of court as 30 days after the complaint has been served on the defendant.
We are, however, asked to rule that Code Ann. § 81A-105 (b) relating to serving papers on an opposing party or his attorney may alter the 30 day rule for filing pleadings with the clerk. This statute specifically provides that "Service upon the attorney or upon a party shall be made by delivering a copy to him or by mailing it to him at his last known address or, if no address is known, by leaving it with the clerk of court” and "Service by mail is complete upon mailing.”
We do not apprehend that this enlarges upon the time allowed for filing papers with the clerk. There is no provision for filing by mail. The record in the trial court and its exemplification in this court show only the date on which the clerk receives the papers and marks them filed. This is required under Code Ann. § 24-2715 which states: "(2). Every clerk of the superior or city courts must record immediately in his book of final records every part of the pleadings in every case. . . and such record shall be a part of the final record of the papers required by law to be made, or all of such record, as the case may be.” The transcript of this record is the one sent to the appellate court. Code Ann. § 24-2715 (15). The clerk is not required to keep records of mailing dates on papers sent to his office by others, and indeed in many cases this would be impossible. There is no way of computing the 30 days allowed for answer except by the clerk’s filing record. Had the legislature intended to say filing by mail was permissible and should date from the date of mailing rather than the date of "filing in the clerk’s office” it would have so provided.
We therefore adhere to our judgment that the pleading in question, which was not filed in the clerk’s office within the 30 day period set by statute, was not timely.
Bell, Chief Judge. Addendum. While I have concurred in Judge Deen’s opinion, I have done so with the understanding that the case does not hold that the filing of a motion for summary judgment can be accepted as an answer. That discussion in the case I consider to be obiter. Personally, I do not feel that motions are responsive pleadings and I would dissent to any holding that they were. See CPA § 7 (a) (Code Ann. § 81A-107 (a)).