Georgia Department of Human Services v. Addison

Summary

The court held that the plaintiffs' direct superior-court challenge to the Child Abuse Registry could not proceed because sovereign immunity barred claims against the State and officials in their official capacities, while the as-applied claims were subject to administrative exhaustion. The court further held that the pending administrative proceedings could not be bypassed even for facial constitutional challenges, so the superior court should not have reached the merits or granted declaratory and injunctive relief. The judgment was reversed in part, vacated in part, and remanded with instructions to dismiss.