Full Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ October 19, 2026 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A27D0181. CEDRIC HERBERT v. THE STATE. In February 2024, a jury found Cedric Herbert guilty of speeding, and the trial court sentenced him to 12 months of probation. He later filed a request to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in forma pauperis in the trial court, which denied the request in an order entered on July 7, 2026, in Herbert’s criminal case. On August 6, 2026, Herbert filed an application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal in the Supreme Court of Georgia. The Supreme Court construed the filing as an application for discretionary review, found that it lacked jurisdiction over the matter because it involved “a ruling entered in [Herbert’s] criminal case and not in a separately filed habeas petition, which is a civil matter,” and, on that basis, transferred the case to this Court. Herbert v. State, Case No. S27D0049 (Sept. 3, 2026). The application materials contain no indication that this case is subject to the OCGA § 5-6-35 discretionary review procedures1 or that the trial court ruling at issue in Herbert’s application is not otherwise directly appealable. Under OCGA § 5-6-35(j), this Court will grant a timely application for discretionary review if the lower court’s order is subject to direct appeal. See City of Rincon v. Couch, 272 Ga. 1 Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, an appeal in a civil action filed by a prisoner must be initiated by filing an application for discretionary review. See OCGA § 42-12-8, cross-referencing OCGA § 5-6-35; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). This appeal arises in a criminal action, and the application materials contain no indication that Herbert is currently incarcerated or was incarcerated when he submitted the trial court filing at issue here. App. 411, 412 (612 SE2d 596) (2005). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Herbert shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal in the trial court. See OCGA § 5-6-35(g). If Herbert already has filed a notice of appeal in the trial court, then he need not file a second notice. The trial court clerk is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the record transmitted to the Court of Appeals. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 10/19/2026 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written. , Clerk.