We granted certiorari to consider whether the Court of Appeals correctly found that appellants Juanita Hicks and Geneva Blanton, in their respective individual capacities as Clerk of the Superior Court of Fulton County and an employee in that office, were not entitled to official immunity for their actions in regard to OCGA § 42-5-50 a requiring the clerk of the court to notify the commissioner of the Department of Corrections of a sentence within 30 working days following the receipt of the sentence, as to the suit brought against them by appellee Calvin McGee, a prisoner who was incarcerated 22 months past his release date due to appellants’ failure to comply with the statute. See McGee v. Hicks , 303 Ga. App. 130 693 SE2d 130 2010 “Hicks II “.1 For the reasons that follow, we affirm the holding of the Court of Appeals that appellants were not entitled to official immunity although we disapprove that court’s holding to the extent that it was based upon the law of the case doctrine. The record reveals that the trial judge in the criminal case of “State of Georgia v. Calvin McGee” signed a one-page document entitled “amended order” that changed McGee’s sentence to provide for a May 27, 2001 maximum release date, rather than the June 27, 2003 maximum release date to which he had previously been sentenced. By its plain language this order modified McGee’s criminal sentence by reducing the maximum amount of time he was required to be incarcerated.2 On July 20, 2000, appellant Blanton accepted this order for filing in the Fulton County Superior Court Clerk’s Office “FCSCCO”, signed the order in as “received” and placed it elsewhere for processing. It is uncontroverted that Blanton neither read the order nor had received any training that would have aided her in recognizing the order as a sentencing order.3 It is also uncontroverted that appellant Hicks did not notify the commissioner of the Department of Corrections “DOC” of this order following the receipt of the sentence on July 20, 2000 as required by OCGA § 42-5-50 a. McGee was not released from prison until March 2003, which was 22 months past the release date set by the trial judge in the order.
McGee filed suit against appellants in October 2003, contending that they breached their duty imposed by OCGA § 42-5-50 a to notify the DOC of his amended sentence. The Court of Appeals, in Hicks v. McGee , 283 Ga. App. 678 642 SE2d 379 2007 “Hicks I “, in pertinent part affirmed the trial court’s denial of appellants’ motion to dismiss McGee’s claim against them in their individual capacities. Id. at 2 b; see Division 2, infra. The trial court thereafter granted appellants’ motion for summary judgment on the basis that they were entitled to official immunity as a matter of law because the original Order contained no language indicating that the Order was a reduction or modification of a sentence, the Order was not accompanied by a final disposition form and the Order did not direct the Clerk of the court to send notification to the Department of Corrections for a sentencing reduction. Therefore, the clerk of the Court performed her duties as she was trained to do with any type of non-sentencing Order. Neither of the appellants breached their ministerial duties. The Court of Appeals in Hicks II , supra, reversed.
