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Ellis v. Johnson

O.C.G.A. § 15-9-120 2—defining probate court as ' "probate court of a county having a population of more than 96,000 persons according to the United States decennial census of 1990 or any future such census in which the judge thereof has been admitted to the practice of law for at least seven years" '—is a constitutional general law.

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Appellant Donna Ellis appeals from the probate court’s ruling that OCGA § 15-9-120 2 is not a special law in violation of Article III, Section VI, Paragraph IV a of the 1983 Georgia Constitution. We affirm. 1. On June 22, 2009, Appellant filed a petition in the Probate Court of Dougherty County to probate a will of Hubert Johnson executed on May 28, 2009. Appellant is the primary beneficiary under that will, in which the testator describes her as a “friend and neighbor.” On July 22, 2009, Appellee Henry Johnson, the decedent’s son and sole heir, filed a caveat. On October 16, 2009, Appellee Kendall Hash, the decedent’s great niece, moved to intervene on the ground that the decedent had named her the primary beneficiary in a June 30, 2008, will. On February 10, 2011, the probate court granted Hash’s motion to intervene.

The following day, Hash filed a demand for jury trial under OCGA § 15-9-121 a, which grants the right to a jury trial in a “probate court” that meets the requirements set forth in OCGA § 15-9-120 2. At that time, “probate court” was defined in § 15-9-120 2 as a probate court of a county having a population of more than 96,000 persons according to the United States decennial census of 1990 or any future such census in which the judge thereof has been admitted to the practice of law for at least seven years.1 Appellant objected to Hash’s jury demand on the ground that it was untimely, but on March 4, 2011, the probate court granted the demand.

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