Hudson v

Watkins, 225 Ga. App. 455, 484 S.E.2d 24 (1997). Bond by amendment was invalid. — Trial court erred in granting a petition for a writ of certiorari as the petition was not accompanied by a bond as required by O.C.G.A. § 5-4-5(a), the hearing officer originally hearing the dispute did not have authority to waive the bond requirement, and a bond by amendment under O.C.G.A. § 5-4-10 was invalid as the bond was not approved by the hearing officer. Duty Free Air & Ship Supply, Inc. v. Atlanta Duty Free, LLC, 275 Ga. App. 381, 620 S.E.2d 616 (2005). Date: 06/14/13 Time: 12:24:49 5-4-11 Right to amend found. — Absent any judicial determination that dismissal was required for lack of an approved bond, the petitioners were entitled to voluntarily dismiss the petitioners’ first request for certiorari, filed pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 5-4-1, relying on the renewal statute codified at O.C.G.A. § 9-2-61(a), and file a second request after the 30-day limitation period had expired. Moreover, the petitioners had the right to amend the certiorari proceedings as to form or substance at any stage, including the right to amend, by substituting a valid bond for a void bond or no bond at all. Buckler v. DeKalb County, 290 Ga. App. 190, 659 S.E.2d 398 (2008). Cited in Morman v. Pritchard, 108 Ga. App. 247, 132 S.E.2d 561 (1963); Ellett v. City of College Park, 233 Ga. 858, 213 S.E.2d 700 (1975); Yield, Inc. v. City of Atlanta, 144 Ga. App. 637, 242 S.E.2d 478 (1978); Willis v. Jackson, 163 Ga. App. 26, 293 S.E.2d 498 (1982).