Court Opinion

ID: 9579305
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:53:38.59593+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:26.314666
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
The appellant now urges that the presiding judge was disqualified from serving because he was not a judge who resided nearest the courthouse in which the contest was filed. This contention was not urged previously in the lower court or before this court. The motion to disqualify in the trial court simply stated that neither the appointed presiding judge nor any other judge in the State of Georgia was authorized to preside in the trial of the case. There was no evidence introduced to show the existence of a qualified judge who resided in closer proximity than the judge who was appointed. The law presumes that public officers will do their duty and every presumption is indulged in favor of the validity and legality of the official acts of public officers. Lilly v. Crisp County School System, 117 Ga. App. 868 (162 SE2d 456); Fine v. Dade County, 198 Ga. 655 (32 SE2d 246); Savannah Beach, Tybee Island v. Lynes, 200 Ga. 26 (35 SE2d 912). Therefore, absent a contrary showing, we assume that the Governor complied with the directive of Code Ann. §34-1704 (b) (Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., pp. 26,178; 1969, pp. 329, 348).

Rehearing denied.