Darrell Higgins v. Brookview Apartment Homes LLC D/B/A Brookview

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia

May 27, 2026
ATLANTA,____________________

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26D0516. DARRELL HIGGINS v. BROOKVIEW APARTMENT HOMES LLC d/b/a
BROOKVIEW.

Darrell Higgins filed this application for discretionary appeal seeking review of a judgment
entered by the Magistrate Court of Douglas County in this dispossessory case. We lack
jurisdiction.
Ordinarily, “the only avenue of appeal available from a magistrate court judgment is
provided by OCGA § 15-10-41(b)(1), which allows for a de novo appeal to the state or superior
court.” Tate v. Habif, 367 Ga. App. 435, 438-39(2) (886 SE2d 389) (2023) (punctuation omitted).
“Thus, this Court has jurisdiction to address a magistrate court order only if the order has been
reviewed by a state or superior court.” Harris v. Reserve at Hollywood LLC, 376 Ga. App. 553, 553
(920 SE2d 163) (2025). The Georgia Constitution, however, provides that “[a]ny court shall
transfer to the appropriate court in the state any civil case in which it determines that jurisdiction
or venue lies elsewhere.” Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. I, Par. VIII; accord Court of Appeals
Rule 11(b).
To the extent this filing may be construed as a petition for review, it is hereby
TRANSFERRED to the Magistrate Court of Douglas County with direction to transmit it to the
state or superior court for disposition as appropriate. We recognize that we are in possession of
limited material and that our determination that jurisdiction may lie in another court is limited by
the dearth of information. Thus, our ruling should not constrain either the magistrate court or the
state or superior court to the extent those courts determine either that Higgins has not perfected
his right to appeal or that jurisdiction lies elsewhere.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
05/27/2026
Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________
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.