Court Opinion

ID: 9604705
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:25:42.488351+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:23.508156
License: Public Domain

Carley, Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur in the result reached by the majority and I specifically endorse Division 2 of the majority opinion holding that because of the date of service as shown on the certificate of the Secretary of State, default judgment should have been set aside. Also, I agree with the conclusion of the majority that the true meaning of Code Ann. § 22-403 (b) is that “the answer shall not become due in less than 30 days after service on the Secretary of State.” (Emphasis in majority opinion.) However, I so vehemently disagree with any interpretation of this Code section to the effect that the same proscribes answering until after the expiration of 30 days that I feel constrained to set forth additional comments with regard to the construction of this statutory provision. Code Ann. § 22-403 (b) states simply that “ [a]ny service so had on the Secretary of State shall be answerable in not less than 30 days.” A reading of that Code section in conjunction with Code Ann. § 81A-104 (d) (1) convinces me that the language used was inserted for the sole purpose of insuring that a corporate defendant served through the Secretary of State would have at least 30 days within which to answer a complaint so served even should the Civil Practice Act provide a lesser time period. That this is the correct construction is clearly shown by the last line of the very Code section in question which states that “ [t]he provisions of this subsection (b) may be used notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of the Georgia Civil Practice Act [Title 81A].”
Neither was there at the time of the enactment of Code Ann. § 22-403 (b) nor is there at the present time any inconsistency between *199the two sections because the CPA provides that an answer must be filed within 30 days. Code Ann. § 81A-104 (d) (1). Obviously, 3p days is “not less than 30 days.” However, the Civil Practice Act may be amended by the General Assembly at any time and conceivably could prescribe a different time period within which an answer must be filed. For example, if the CPA should provide for an answer within 40 days, the time period specified would be “not less than 30 days.” Thus such period of time would not be “inconsistent” with Code Ann. § 22-403 (b) and the CPA would control. On the other hand, should the legislature amend the CPA to require answers within 20 days (as is true in federal practice), the period so prescribed would be “less than 30 days,” such “inconsistent” provision of the CPA would yield to the safeguard provision of Code Ann § 22-403 (b), and the answer of a corporate defendant served through the Secretary of State would be timely if filed within 30 days from the date of service. In short, Code Ann. § 22-403 (b) allows the legislature to prescribe the time period within which a corporate defendant must answer when served in accordance with Code Ann. § 22-403 (b) so long as that time period is “not less than 30 days. ”