Opinion
A22A0445
03-23-2022
AMMON SUMRALL v. GARY LONG.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
The trial court entered an order denying prison inmate Ammon Sumrall's petition for a writ of mandamus in this civil case. Sumrall filed a notice of appeal from that order. We, however, lack jurisdiction.
Sumrall filed his appeal in the Supreme Court, which transferred the case to this Court because the order on appeal (entered in a civil case that sought relief related to another civil case) did not fall within that Court's limited jurisdiction over mandamus cases. See Case No. S22A0062 (Sep. 8, 2021).
While judgments and orders granting or refusing to grant mandamus relief are generally directly appealable, see OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (7), under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, any appeal in a civil case that was initiated by a prisoner must come by discretionary application. See OCGA § 42-12-8; Brock v. Hardman, 303 Ga. 729, 731 (2) (814 S.E.2d 736) (2018); Harris v. State, 278 Ga. 805, 806 (1) (606 S.E.2d 248) (2004). "Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional." Smoak v. Dept. of Human Resources, 221 Ga.App. 257, 257 (471 S.E.2d 60) (1996).
Sumrall was thus not entitled to file this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.