Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice v. Eller

Rickman, Judge.

The Department of Juvenile Justice (“DJJ”), though a nonparty to the proceedings below,1 appeals from a superior court order directing DJJ to hold in its custody Daniel Lee Eller, a criminal defendant prosecuted as an adult for a crime he committed as a juvenile, until he turns 21 years old. DJJ contends that, contrary to the superior court’s directive, the plain language of OCGA § 17-10-14 (a) mandates that Eller be transferred to the Department of Corrections upon his seventeenth birthday. We agree and reverse.

The record shows that in 2013, Eller entered a negotiated guilty…