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Georgia Supreme Court chief justice to step down, leaving appointment opening for Kemp

By and 02/26/2025 | updated 7 months ago

Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Boggs announced he would resign at the end of March. 

Boggs revealed his decision to step down in a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) on Tuesday, citing “increasing family and personal obligations.” 

“I consider it my greatest honor to have served as Chief Justice, and I will be forever grateful to Governor Nathan Deal and the citizens of Georgia for affording me this privilege to serve,” he wrote in an announcement that came less than a year after voters reelected him to another six-year term.

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“My wife recently retired from full-time teaching, and we have increasing family and personal obligations at home in South Georgia that make this change the right decision for us,” he continued.  

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Boggs was first appointed to serve on the court in 2016. He was reelected twice before rising to become chief justice in 2022. 

His resignation means Kemp will have a chance to fill the position on the judicial bench with an appointee who will complete Boggs’s remaining term, which will expire at the end of 2030. The appointment will mark the fifth spot on the nine-member court the governor has filled after previously appointing Justices Verda Colvin, Shawn Ellen LaGrua, Carla McMillian, and Andrew Pinson.

The Supreme Court justices will select the court’s next chief justice by majority vote. In Georgia, new justices on the Supreme Court are almost always appointed by the governor to fill a vacancy. At the end of each six-year term, justices must be reelected by voters. 

In a post on X, Kemp expressed gratitude to Boggs “for his contributions to our state and service on the highest court in Georgia.”

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“Throughout his career, he has endeavored to uphold the fair and equal justice that defines our courts, and his impact will continue to be felt as he enters this next chapter,” Kemp said. 

The resignation of Michigan’s Supreme Court chief justice also recently paved the way for the state’s governor to appoint a new member ideologically aligned with her Democratic administration. Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement’s impending resignation gives Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) the ability to stack the court with a liberal supermajority. 

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