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2018 Georgia Code 50-15-2 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 50-15-2 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 50-15-2

TITLE 50 STATE GOVERNMENT

Section 15. Public Lawsuits, 50-15-1 through 50-15-4.

ARTICLE 2 OFFICE OF STATE ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

50-15-2. Petition by political subdivision for posting of bond by opposing party or intervenor; hearing; dismissal upon failure to file bond; appeal.

At any time prior to the final determination of a public lawsuit in the trial court or on appeal, any political subdivision which is a party to the action may petition for an order of the court that the opposing party or parties or intervenors be dismissed unless such opposing party or parties or intervenors post a bond with surety to be approved by the court payable to the moving party for the payment of all damages and costs which may accrue by reason of such opposition or intervention in the event the moving party prevails. The moving party shall obtain from a judge of the court an order requiring the opposing party or parties or intervenors to appear at such time and place within 20 days from the filing of the petition as the judge may direct and to show cause, if any exists, why the prayers of the petition should not be granted. The petition and order shall be served in the manner provided by law for the service of orders and pleadings subsequent to the original complaint. If, at the hearing of the petition on the order to show cause, the court determines that it is in the public interest to do so, the court shall set the amount of bond to be filed by the opposing party or parties or intervenors in an amount found by the court to cover all damage and costs which may accrue to the political subdivision by reason of the opposition or intervention in the event the political subdivision prevails. In the event the bond is not filed by the opposing party or parties or intervenors with surety approved by the court within ten days after the order is entered, the opposing party or parties or intervenors shall be dismissed by operation of law. Either the opposing party or parties or intervenors or the political subdivision may appeal the order under the procedure provided by law in cases of injunction. The appellate court may stay the lower court order pending its own decision, may set a bond to be filed by the opposing party or parties or intervenors in connection therewith, may modify the order of the lower court, or may enter its order as a final order in the case. In the event no bond is filed as provided in this Code section, the opposing party or parties or intervenors shall be dismissed by operation of law; and, upon final determination of the case, no court shall have further jurisdiction of any action involving any issue which was or could have been raised therein.

(Ga. L. 1969, p. 815, § 2.)

Law reviews.

- For annual survey of local government law, see 58 Mercer L. Rev. 267 (2006).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Requirement for bond not in the "public interest."

- Trial court abused the court's discretion in requiring the intervenors to post a surety bond when meritorious claims were raised concerning whether proposed contracts met constitutional requirements for intergovernmental contracts that are not subject to the constitutional debt clause and whether a proposed project promoted the development of trade, commerce, and industry under Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. VI, Para. III and the Development Authority Law, O.C.G.A. § 36-62-1 et seq. Haney v. Development Auth., 271 Ga. 403, 519 S.E.2d 665 (1999).

Appeal bond properly ordered in action challenging SPLOST.

- Action challenging the validity and implementation of a special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) resolution passed by a county was a public lawsuit and was not meritorious; therefore, the trial court did not err in requiring the taxpayer to post a $2.1 million appeal bond under O.C.G.A. § 50-15-2. Mattox v. Franklin County, 316 Ga. App. 181, 728 S.E.2d 813 (2012).

Validation upheld.

- After a trial court required two intervenors to post a bond of $625,000 with regard to the intervenors' challenge to the public improvement bond approved by a city's building authority for a sewer project, the trial court property validated the bond by following all necessary procedural requirements and the bond did not violate Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. V, Para. I(a) since the city's payment for the use of the sewer project was a debt specifically authorized under the constitution pursuant to Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. III, Para. I(a). Berry v. City of E. Point, 277 Ga. App. 649, 627 S.E.2d 391 (2006).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 11 C.J.S., Bonds, § 9.

ALR.

- Constitutionality, construction, and application of statutes requiring bond or other security in taxpayers' action, 41 A.L.R.5th 47.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 50-15-2

Total Results: 2  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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Labovitz v. Hopkinson, 519 S.E.2d 672 (Ga. 1999).

Cited 64 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jul 13, 1999 | 271 Ga. 330, 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 3162

...arnishment has been issued for two years] shall automatically stand dismissed. "); OCGA § 34-9-105(b) ("if the court does not hear the case within 60 days... the decision of the board shall be considered affirmed by operation of law ..."); and OCGA § 50-15-2 (if a bond ordered by the court in a public lawsuit is not filed, "the opposing party or parties or intervenors shall be dismissed by operation of law ...") (emphases supplied)....
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Haney v. Dev. Auth. of Bremen, 519 S.E.2d 665 (Ga. 1999).

Cited 14 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jul 8, 1999 | 271 Ga. 403, 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 2504

...Without explaining the basis for its figure, it ordered the intervenors to post a $3 million surety bond to cover increased costs, lost revenues, and potential losses during the appeal. The intervenors did not post the surety bond, and their appeal was dismissed by operation of law under OCGA § 50-15-2....
...All the Justices concur, except CARLEY, J., who dissents. CARLEY, Justice, dissenting. I dissent to the majority's reversal of the judgment of the trial court because I do not believe that the trial court abused its discretion in ordering appellants to post a surety bond, as provided by OCGA § 50-15-2....
...Therefore, I will not address the merits of the appeal which has been dismissed by operation of law. Under the majority's analysis, the Public Lawsuits Act (PLA) prohibits the trial court from requiring a surety bond unless the litigation is clearly frivolous or non-meritorious. Even if this construction of OCGA § 50-15-2 would be reasonable at the outset of the lawsuit, it should not apply where the trial court has rendered its decision on the merits of the underlying litigation....
...the public interest," it " shall set the amount of the bond ... to cover all damage and costs which may accrue to the political subdivision by reason of the ... intervention in the event the political subdivision prevails." (Emphasis supplied.) OCGA § 50-15-2....
...early frivolous. Thus, in the absence of further legislation, the appellate courts of Georgia will hereafter be required to second-guess each and every order of a trial court requiring an unsuccessful litigant to post an appeal bond pursuant to OCGA § 50-15-2....
...Because I believe that such an approach is an unreasonable interpretation of the statute, I dissent to the reversal of the trial court's order requiring appellants to post a surety bond during the pendency of the appeal. NOTES [1] OCGA §§ 50-15-1 to 50-15-4 (1998). [2] See 1969 Ga. Laws 815, 816. [3] See OCGA § 50-15-2....