DAWN ROBERTSON v. YOLANDA PARKER-SMITH, JUDGE

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia
ATLANTA,____________________
February 26, 2026
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
A26E0150. ROBERTSON v. YOLANDA PARKER-SMITH, JUDGE et
al.
Appellant has petitioned this Court for a Writ of Mandamus ordering
Appellee to issue a written order affirming a ruling made from the bench
following a hearing. But having reviewed Appellant’s petition, this does not
appear to be one of the rare instances that will invoke this Court’s original
mandamus jurisdiction.
In general, “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).
Thus, before seeking to invoke this Court’s original mandamus jurisdiction, the
procedure which must be followed is to first file the petition in the appropriate
lower court. 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) (“Except in the rarest of cases, litigants seeking to invoke this Court’s
original jurisdiction . . . must first petition the superior court for such relief.”).
In this matter, Appellant appears to acknowledge that she has not filed a
petition for a Writ of Mandamus in the appropriate lower court. Accordingly,
Appellant’s petition is hereby DENIED. See Court of Appeals Rule 40(c)(1).

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
Clerk’s Office,
Atlanta,____________________
02/26/2026
I certify that the above is a true extract from
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.