Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ February 16, 2021 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A21A0976. ANDREW WHITE PAYNE v. TIMOTHY C. WARD, COMMISSIONER, GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS.

The trial court entered an order dismissing prison inmate Andrew White Payne’s petition for a writ of mandamus. Payne then filed a notice of appeal to this Court. We, however, lack jurisdiction.

While judgments and orders granting or refusing to grant mandamus are generally directly appealable, see OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (7), under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, any appeal in a civil case initiated by a prisoner must come by discretionary application. See OCGA § 42-12-8; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). Because Payne is incarcerated, he was required to file an application for discretionary appeal to seek review of the trial court’s order.

“Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Smoak v. Dept. of Human Res., 221 Ga. App. 257, 257 (471 SE2d 60) (1996). Payne’s failure to follow the proper appellate procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/16/2021 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.