Upon filing of a notice of appeal, the clerk shall compile and transmit the record in accordance with the requirement of the appropriate appellate court as required by OCGA § 5-6-43. Failure to do so within 60 days of the deadlines imposed by OCGA § 5-6-43 may subject the clerk to a show cause hearing before the sentencing court.
Rule 41.4.Transmission of the Record
Rule 41. MOTIONS FOR NEW TRIAL · Last amended 2019 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceRule 41.4 requires the clerk to compile and transmit the appellate record once a notice of appeal is filed, following the deadlines set by OCGA § 5-6-43, and exposes the clerk to a show cause hearing before the sentencing court if the record is not transmitted within 60 days of that statutory deadline.
Full Text of Rule 41.4
Plain-English Summary
Once a notice of appeal is filed, the case file itself has to make its way to the appellate court, and Rule 41.4 puts that job on the clerk. The clerk must compile and transmit the record in the format and within the time the relevant appellate court requires, following the deadlines set out in OCGA § 5-6-43.
The rule backs that duty with accountability. If the clerk misses the statutory deadline by more than 60 days, the sentencing court can call a show cause hearing to find out why. That gives the trial court a direct tool to address record-transmission delays at the source, rather than leaving the appellate court to sort out what went wrong long after the fact.
Read together with Rule 41.2’s status-conference system, this rule closes the loop on the new-trial-to-appeal pipeline: the transcript gets tracked and produced, the motion gets heard on a schedule, and once an appeal is noticed, the record itself is subject to its own enforceable deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What must the clerk do once a notice of appeal is filed?
The clerk must compile and transmit the record in accordance with the requirements of the appropriate appellate court, as required by OCGA § 5-6-43.
What happens if the clerk misses the record transmission deadline?
Failure to transmit the record within 60 days of the deadlines imposed by OCGA § 5-6-43 may subject the clerk to a show cause hearing before the sentencing court.
Which court holds the show cause hearing over a delayed record?
The sentencing court holds the show cause hearing.
Does Rule 41.4 set its own transmission deadline separate from statute?
No, it ties transmission to the deadlines already imposed by OCGA § 5-6-43 and adds a 60-day grace period before a show cause hearing becomes available.
When was Rule 41.4 adopted?
It was adopted effective January 1, 2019.
Amendment History
Adopted effective January 1, 2019.
Source & verification. Rule text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Uniform Superior Court Rules, published by the
Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia. Last verified July 17, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: Georgia appellate record transmission deadline clerkUSCR 41.4 record on appeal show causeOCGA 5-6-43 record transmission superior courtGeorgia clerk failure to transmit appeal recordGeorgia superior court appeal record delay