ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia Supreme Court justice has announced that he plans to resign before the end of his term.
The court released a statement Thursday saying Justice Robert Benham plans to leave the bench March 1. That’s before his current term ends a year from now.
In the statement, Benham noted that several people, anticipating an open election in May, had announced plans to run for his seat. The Supreme Court statement says Gov. Brian Kemp will appoint his replacement.
The Daily Report notes that a 1992 opinion from the state attorney general says a new judge will first face election in the first contest that comes more than six months after his or her appointment. The newspaper says that means Kemp’s appointment as Benham’s successor won’t have to run until 2022.
When tapped by then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris in December 1984, Benham was the first African American appointed to the high court. He’s been elected to six-year terms ever since and served as chief justice from 1995 to 2001.
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