On March 26, 2002, James Orin Jenkins pled guilty and was convicted of criminal attempt to commit rape and possession of marijuana. Upon his release, Jenkins registered as a sex offender with the Henry County Sheriff’s Department. On or about May 31, 2006, Jenkins changed residences without registering his new address in accordance with OCGA § 42-1-12 as it existed at that time. The trial court sentenced Jenkins to three years in prison for violating OCGA § 42-1-12. Jenkins appeals alleging that he did not violate the statute and, alternatively, that the statute was unconstitutionally vague. 1. “It is incumbent upon this Court to inquire into its own jurisdiction.” Nix v. Watts , 284 Ga. 100 664 SE2d 194 2008; Ferguson v. Freeman , 282 Ga. 180 1 646 SE2d 65 2007. This case is before us pursuant to our exclusive appellate jurisdiction of “all cases in which the constitutionality of a law. . . has been drawn in question.” Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Para. II 1. Because the trial court’s ruling on the constitutional question in this case was oral, we write to determine whether the issue was distinctly ruled upon insofar as the ruling was not reduced to a written order. While final orders and judgments must be reduced to writing, signed by a judge, and filed by the clerk to be appealable OCGA § 5-6-34a; Hill v. State , 281 Ga. 795 3 642 SE2d 64 2007, there is a distinction to be made between an appealable final judgment and a distinct ruling which invokes this Court’s constitutional question jurisdiction.
OCGA § 5-6-34 d provides in pertinent part:Where an appeal is taken under any provision of subsection a, b, or c of this Code section, all judgments, rulings, or orders rendered in the case which are raised on appeal and which may affect the proceedings below shall be reviewed and determined by the appellate court, without regard to the appealability of the judgment, ruling, or order standing alone and without regard to whether the judgment, ruling, or order appealed from was final or was appealable by some other express provision of law contained in this Code section, or elsewhere. Thus once the final appealable order or judgment has been issued per OCGA § 5-6-34 a, b, or c, any other ruling that will affect the case below, including a ruling on a constitutional question, may potentially be considered by an appellate court if properly preserved for review. A constitutional question raised and distinctly ruled upon in the trial court need not be reduced to a written order or other similar writing to invoke this Court’s jurisdiction. In re D.H. , 283 Ga. 556 1 663 SE2d 139 2008 this Court had jurisdiction where the constitutional question was raised and distinctly ruled upon orally at the hearing.1
