Jeanna Shiver appeals from the dismissal of her personal injury suit against the Georgia Department of Transportation. She contends the trial court erred in dismissing her suit based solely upon her failure to mail a copy of the complaint to Georgia’s Attorney General, as required by OCGA § 50-21-35. For the following reasons, we reverse the dismissal and remand this case to the trial court for further consideration. The record shows that, on February 6, 2004, Shiver filed suit against the Georgia Department of Transportation “DOT”, alleging that the DOT had negligently designed, constructed, and maintained a portion of Georgia Highway 14 by allowing for an excessive drop-off from the edge of the road to the shoulder. Shiver claimed that, on March 2, 2002, she was driving on the highway when a second motorist driving in the opposite direction lost control of her vehicle after running off the side of the road and collided with Shiver’s car, causing Shiver to suffer serious injuries. Shiver served copies of the complaint upon the DOT and the Department of Administrative Services. She failed, however, to mail a copy of the complaint to the Attorney General or to attach to her complaint a certificate that this requirement was met, as required by OCGA § 50-21-35.1
The DOT filed a special appearance, contending that the suit should be dismissed for improper service of process and insufficiency of process due to Shiver’s failure to comply with OCGA § 50-21-35. On May 24, 2004, Shiver mailed a copy of the complaint to the Attorney General and amended her complaint to show that she had done so. On August 9, 2004, the trial court conducted a hearing on the DOT’s motion to dismiss. During the hearing, the trial court determined that, under OCGA § 50-21-35, the plaintiff must mail a copy of his or her complaint to the Attorney General, the copy of the complaint must show the date of filing, and the plaintiff must file a certificate contemporaneously with the complaint stating that he or she had fulfilled this requirement. The court also ruled that service was not complete until these requirements were met. Further, the court found that Shiver had not fulfilled these requirements. Then, when it became clear that the trial court was about to dismiss Shiver’s suit for failure to comply with OCGA § 50-21-35, Shiver suddenly announced that she was voluntarily dismissing the suit.
