Full Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ September 15, 2026 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A27O0010. JOHNNY BRETT GREGORY v. CYNTHIA NOLES JOHNSON, EXECUTOR et al. Johnny Brett Gregory filed an original mandamus petition from an underlying probate court estate matter.1 He seeks certain relief due to screening requirements imposed by the probate court. We, however, lack jurisdiction. “Generally, the superior courts of this state have the power, in proper cases, to issue process in the nature of mandamus, prohibition, specific performance, quo warranto, and injunction, and hence the need to resort to the appellate courts for such relief by petition filed in the appellate courts will be extremely rare.” Brown v. Johnson, 251 Ga. 436, 436 (306 SE2d 655) (1983). See also Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. I, Par. IV. As the Supreme Court of Georgia recently made clear, an appellate court’s authority to issue such writs “is connected only to such powers as necessary in aid of its jurisdiction or to protect or effectuate its judgments. It does not grant jurisdiction to [the appellate court] to issue process as an original matter wholly unconnected to its appellate jurisdiction.” Arnold v. Alexander, 321 Ga. 330, 334(1) (914 SE2d 311) (2025) (quotation marks omitted). Thus, except in the rarest of cases, the procedure to be followed before seeking to invoke this Court’s original mandamus 1 Gregory originally filed his mandamus petition in the Supreme Court of Georgia, which transferred the case here. See Case No. S27M0119 (Aug. 28, 2026). He also filed an emergency motion in the Supreme Court, which again transferred the case here. See Case No. S27M0088 (Aug. 19, 2026). We denied the emergency motion. See Case No. A27E0014 (Aug. 19, 2026). jurisdiction is to file the petition in the appropriate lower court first. See Graham v. Cavender, 252 Ga. 123, 123 (311 SE2d 832) (1984); Expedia, Inc. v. City of Columbus, 305 Ga. App. 450, 455(2)(b) (699 SE2d 600) (2010), disapproved on other grounds by Arnold, 321 Ga. at 336(1) & n.7. Here, there is no indication that Gregory petitioned the superior court for a writ of mandamus, and this is not one of the extremely rare instances in which this Court will exercise its original jurisdiction. Thus, there is no basis for this Court to exercise its jurisdiction, and this original petition is hereby DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 09/15/2026 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written. , Clerk.