Court Opinion

ID: 9931160
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-08 16:05:45.325317+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:16:28.614611
License: Public Domain

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia

                                        ATLANTA,____________________
                                                 February 08, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23A1293. JONES v. CITY OF ATLANTA.

      A. Thomas Jones filed the underlying class action lawsuit, which he
subsequently amended, alleging that certain City of Atlanta water and sewer use
ordinances were unconstitutional, and that the charges collected under the ordinances
were illegal taxes. Jones argues, inter alia, that the ordinances are unauthorized under
the Georgia Constitution, violate constitutional due process protections and serve as
unjust takings without compensation. The City filed a motion for judgment on the
pleadings, and Jones filed a motion for partial summary judgment. The trial court
issued an order granting the City’s motion and denying Jones’s motion. Jones filed
a notice of appeal with this Court seeking review of the trial court’s order.1
      The Supreme Court of Georgia “has exclusive jurisdiction over all cases
involving construction of the Constitution of the State of Georgia and of the United
States and all cases in which the constitutionality of a law, ordinance, or

      1
         This is the second appeal in the underlying case. See Jones v. City of Atlanta,
360 Ga. App. 152 (860 SE2d 833) (2021) (“Jones I”). In Jones I, Jones filed his appeal
with the Supreme Court of Georgia. See id. at 153. The Supreme Court transferred
the matter to this Court because that appeal was of the trial court’s order dismissing
the case for lack of jurisdiction due to Jones’s failure to “timely seek judicial review
of Appellee’s Water and Sewer Board’s denial of his refund request,” and therefore
the trial court erred in reaching an alternative determination that the City’s
ordinances were constitutional. This Court “reverse[d] the trial court’s determination
that it lacked jurisdiction” and remanded the matter to the trial court. See id. at 157.
constitutional provision has been called into question.” Atlanta Independent School
System v. Lane, 266 Ga. 657, 657 (1) (469 SE2d 22) (1996) (citing Ga. Const. of
1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. II (1)). This exclusive jurisdiction extends “only to
constitutional issues that were distinctly ruled on by the trial court and that do not
involve the application of unquestioned and unambiguous constitutional provisions
or challenges to laws previously held to be constitutional against the same attack.”
State v. Davis, 303 Ga. 684, 687 (1) (814 SE2d 701) (2018) (citation and punctuation
omitted). Here, the trial court expressly rejected Jones’s claims that the ordinances
are unconstitutional, and his claims appear to present an issue of first impression.
      As the Supreme Court has the ultimate responsibility for determining appellate
jurisdiction, see Saxton v. Coastal Dialysis & Med. Clinic, 267 Ga. 177, 178 (476
SE2d 587) (1996), this appeal is TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for
disposition.

                                       Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
                                         Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________
                                                                     02/08/2024
                                                  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.