These rules of the Court of Appeals of Georgia are adopted effective March 26, 2026, and will be applied to all cases decided by the Court of Appeals on or after that date. The complete rule changes are attached with the added language bolded and deleted language struck out of the amended rule.
The reasons for these changes are as follows:
Rule 1 Clerk’s Office Hours and Location. – This change reflects the updated website domain for the Court of Appeals of Georgia.
Rule 4 (c) Filings by Pro Se Prisoners. – This change accounts for potential delays in the processing and/or delivery of pro se prisoner mail that may occur following the submission of the mail to prison officials.
Rule 24 (a) Limitations. – This change clarifies the categories of briefs which require permission from the Court in order to be accepted.
Rule 25 (d) General Provisions. – This change eliminates a reference to paper records to reflect the Court’s practice of processing records electronically, and language was added to the Rule to clarify the requirements for seeking access to the record in a previous appeal.
Rule 27 (a) Guidelines. – This change provides guidance for those seeking permission to file a supplemental, amended, or corrected brief.
Rule 40 (c) Original Petitions. – This change provides guidance for those submitting an original petition for mandamus.
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I. GENERAL
Rule 1. Clerk’s Office Hours and Location.
The Clerk’s office shall be open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST/EDT. The office is closed on all Georgia State holidays and during severe inclement weather. The address is: Clerk, Court of Appeals of Georgia, Nathan Deal Judicial Center, 330 Capitol Ave., S.E., 1st Floor, Suite 1601, Atlanta, Georgia 30334. The Court’s website is: www.gaappeals.us www.gaappeals.gov. The telephone number is (404) 656-3450.
Rule 4. Court Filings and Determination of Filing Date.
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(c) Filings by Pro Se Prisoners.
(1) In the absence of an official United States Postal Service postmark showing a date on or before the filing deadline, a document submitted by a prisoner who is not represented by an attorney shall be deemed filed on the date the prisoner delivers the document to prison officials for forwarding to the Clerk of the Court of Appeals. This delivery shall be shown by the date on the certificate of service or on an affidavit submitted by the prisoner with the document stating the date on which the prisoner gave the document to prison officials with sufficient prepaid postage for first-class mail and the name of the prison official to whom the document was delivered. The certificate or affidavit will give rise to a presumption that the date of filing reflected in the affidavit is accurate, but the State may rebut the presumption with evidence that the document was given to prison officials after the filing deadline or with insufficient postage. If the institution has a system designed for legal mail the prisoner must use it to rely upon the provisions of this paragraph. Note: This rule does not apply to motions for reconsideration. See Rule 37 (b).
(2) Discretionary and interlocutory applications filed by a pro se prisoner pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-34 (Interlocutory Application) and OCGA § 5-6-35 (Discretionary Application) shall be governed by Rule 4 (c) (1). However, the docket date, for purposes of the Court’s processing and adherence to statutory deadlines, shall be the date the application was physically received in the Clerk’s Office.
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VII. BRIEFS
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Rule 24. Preparation.
(a) Limitations.
The parties to the appeal are entitled as of right to file an initial appellant’s brief, a responding appellee’s brief, and an appellant’s reply brief. Appellants are entitled to file only a single reply brief. Amended briefs, supplemental briefs, and corrected briefs are not permitted except upon the filing of a motion and the Court’s permission in accordance with Rule 27. Parties may file a motion for additional words or for an extension of time to file a brief. See Rule 24 (f) (1) and Rule 16 (b). Supplemental briefs and responses to amicus briefs are only accepted pursuant to the Court’s grant of a motion under Rule 27. Amicus curiae briefs conforming to Rule 26 will also be accepted. Responses to amicus briefs are only accepted pursuant to the Court’s grant of a motion under Rule 27. All counsel are required to efile in accordance with Rule 46, Electronic Filing of Documents. Paper filers need only file the original brief for each docketed appeal.
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Rule 25. Structure and Content.
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(d) General Provisions.
(1) Unsupported Claim of Error; References to Record and Transcripts.
Any enumeration of error that is not supported in the brief by citation of authority or argument may be deemed abandoned.
(i) Each enumerated error shall be supported in the brief by specific reference to the record or transcript. In the absence of a specific reference, the Court will not search for and may not consider that enumeration.
(ii) A contention that certain matters are not supported by the record may be answered by reference to particular volume and pages where the matters appear.
(2) Citations to the record.
Reference to a paper record should be indicated by the volume number of the appellate record and the trial court’s stamped page number (Vol. Number – Stamped Number; for example, V2-46).
Reference to an electronic record should be indicated by the volume number of the electronic record and the PDF page number within that volume (Vol. Number – PDF Page Number; for example, V2-46).
If the case has previously been up on appeal in this Court, then contact the Clerk’s Office for access to the record in that previous appeal. With a subsequent appeal, the appellate record might contain only filings docketed after the previous appeal was remitted. A party seeking to rely on a record from a previous appeal must file notice of that intent in accordance with Rule 42 (c).
Citations to audio and video recordings should identify the recording itself according to its location in the record and specify the relevant portion of the recording by indicating the time range during which the cited material is found.
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Rule 27. Supplemental, Amended, and Corrected Briefs.
(a) Guidelines.
Briefs of the parties shall be limited to an appellant’s brief, an appellee’s brief, and an appellant’s reply brief. Supplemental, amended, or corrected briefs may be filed only by leave of the Court. Counsel may must file a motion for permission to file supplemental, amended, or corrected briefs, explaining why the supplement, amendment, or correction is necessary, identifying the changes being made, and attaching a copy of the proposed brief as an exhibit. Counsel may not file a supplemental brief contemporaneously with the motion, but may include a copy of the supplemental brief with the motion for permission to file as an exhibit. If the motion is granted, any such briefs must comply Counsel shall file a supplemental brief, in compliance with the limitation on length at in Rule 24 (f), only after permission to file is granted. If paper filing, only the original must be filed. A certificate of service must be attached to the supplemental brief, and service must be made upon opposing counsel.
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XVI. SUPERSEDEAS AND EMERGENCY MOTIONS.
Rule 40. Supersedeas and Emergency Motions.
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(c) Mandamus. Original Petitions.
In the exercise of its power under Ga. Const. Art. VI, Sec. I, Par. IV this Court may issue process in the nature of mandamus to the trial court as may be necessary in aid of its jurisdiction or to protect or effectuate its judgments. This Court’s original mandamus jurisdiction is narrow and will be exercised sparingly.
A Rule 40 (c) motion An original petition seeking mandamus shall contain the following:
(1) Contain aAn explanation why an order of this Court is necessary and why mandamus jurisdiction lies in this Court rather than a superior court. This Court has original mandamus jurisdiction in order to effectuate its judgments, generally in situations when it has issued a judgment and opinion that the trial court later refuses to follow in the same case. In any other circumstance, an original mandamus petition filed in this Court must show why this Court has jurisdiction;
(2) The prior judgment of this Court, where applicable, that would be effectuated by an exercise of original mandamus jurisdiction;
(23) Include sSufficient material to apprise the Court of the issues, in context, and to support the arguments advanced; and
(34) Show Proof that service was perfected upon the opposing party and upon the officer whose compelled performance is requested required contemporaneously with or before filing the motion with the Court.
Failure to submit sufficient material to apprise the Court of the issues and support the argument may result in the dismissal or denial of the motion.