Jean Browning v. Rabun County Board of Commissioners, A17A1136

Appellant Jean Browning moved to supplement the appellate record with three items (an affidavit and two deposition transcripts with exhibits) she says were relied on by the parties and the trial court but were never filed with the trial-court clerk.
It was undisputed the contested materials were not filed in the trial-court record and therefore were not transmitted to the Court of Appeals.
Browning argued the materials were considered by the trial court and thus should be included on appeal; the Rabun County Board of Commissioners disputed that the trial court relied on those materials.
The Court of Appeals summarized the governing principle: appellate courts may exercise discretion under OCGA § 5-6-48(d) to supplement the record, balancing (1) deciding cases according to the true and complete facts and (2) avoiding delay, with the first goal prevailing until decision.
Because the evidence was not part of the trial-court record and there was a factual dispute over whether the trial court considered the materials, the Court denied the motion to supplement the appellate record, removed the appeal from its docket, and remanded to the trial court.
The trial court was directed to enter an order identifying which, if any, of the contested exhibits it considered and to supplement the trial-court record accordingly; Browning then has 30 days from that order to refile a notice of appeal for redocketing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Court of Appeals should supplement the appellate record with materials not filed in the trial court	Browning: materials were relied upon by the trial court and thus must be included for a fair appeal	Rabun County: disputed that the trial court considered or relied on the materials	Denied: Court cannot consider materials not in the trial-court record; remand to trial court to determine what was considered and to supplement the record if appropriate
Whether remand is required to afford parties a fair opportunity to present evidence considered by the trial court	Browning: remand and supplementation required to ensure true and complete facts on appeal	Rabun County: opposed supplementation as not relied on by trial court	Granted: remand ordered so trial court can confirm which exhibits it considered and complete the record; appellant given 30 days to refile notice of appeal

Damani v. State, 284 Ga. 372 (explaining the two goals for supplementing the record and that the first goal prevails)
Peterson v. Beasley, 274 Ga. 882 (remanding to trial court to complete the record when exhibits’ admission was unclear)
Harris v. Tenet Healthsystem Spalding, Inc., 322 Ga. App. 894 (noting appellate courts cannot consider documents not forwarded by the trial court)
Glover v. State, 128 Ga. 1 (evidence not part of the record cannot be considered on appeal unless properly included)
In re Estate of Dorroh, 255 Ga. App. 366 (same principle: documents must be made part of the record to be considered)
Ga. Messenger Serv., Inc. v. Bradley, 302 Ga. App. 247 (trial court may be inferred to have relied on depositions cited in briefs; court can complete the record)
Snipes v. Housing Auth. of DeKalb Cty., 250 Ga. App. 771 (vacating summary judgment and remanding to reconsider with depositions that were relied on but not filed)
Custom Lighting & Decorating, Ltd. v. Hampshire Co., 204 Ga. App. 293 (allowing trial court to supplement record with depositions given to the judge but not filed)
Galardi v. Steele-Inman, 259 Ga. App. 249 (removing case from docket and remanding to complete the record)
Slaughter v. State, 199 Ga. App. 695 (remanding to afford both parties equal opportunity to supplement the record)