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Lewis v. City of Savannah

The recorder's court lacked jurisdiction to hold the defendant in contempt of an order that had been entered in an unrelated case that had been dismissed.

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The Recorder’s Court of Chatham County entered an order finding that Isaac Lewis had violated a 2010 cease and desist order the 2010 Order and several municipal ordinances by operating illegal rooming houses in Savannah. The recorder’s court fined Lewis for the violations including a $1,000 fine for violating the 2010 Order and sentenced him to several months of incarceration in the county detention center. Lewis filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the superior court, arguing that the recorder’s court erred by holding him in contempt of the 2010 Order, which had been entered in an unrelated case that had been dismissed. Lewis also argued that the recorder’s court erred in sanctioning him for violating the municipal ordinances because he was not provided a reasonable opportunity to correct the deficiencies in the properties before the enforcement action was commenced against him. The superior court affirmed the recorder’s court, and Lewis then filed an application for discretionary appeal, which this Court granted.

For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that the recorder’s court lacked jurisdiction to hold Lewis in contempt of the 2010 Order. We therefore reverse the superior court to the extent that it upheld the recorder’s court decision holding Lewis in contempt of the 2010 Order and fining him $1,000 for that violation. In addition, because it is unclear from the record to what extent the recorder’s court relied upon its finding that Lewis was in contempt of the 2010 Order in sentencing Lewis to several months of incarceration, we vacate the superior court’s affirmance of Lewis’s sentence and remand so that Lewis can be resentenced in the recorder’s court consistent with this opinion. We affirm the superior court in all other respects.

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