Milledgeville justice stepping down from state Supreme Court

The Georgia Supreme Court’s chief justice said Tuesday that he will leave the court in early 2017.

Hugh P. Thompson, a resident of Milledgeville, announced that he would leave after the swearing in of a new chief justice. That means Gov. Nathan Deal will have an opportunity to appoint another justice to the state’s highest court.

“Our court is undergoing significant change,” Thompson, 73, said in a statement. “We will have two new justices coming on board in January as our court grows from seven to nine justices. I believe that selecting my successor so he or she can start at the same time will make for a smoother transition.”

Thompson, whose terms end in August 2017, said he also wants to fulfill a pledge he made to Presiding Justice P. Harris Hines so that Hines will have more time as chief justice before his retirement in 2018.

In an address last year to state lawmakers, Thompson said the judicial system is sound, but that it faces challenges, especially for serving rural areas and elderly people.

“Too many hard-working Georgians believe that justice is out of their reach, either because it’s too expensive or because of where they live,” Thompson said.

Thompson, who was appointed to the high court in 1994 by Gov. Zell Miller, has been a judge for 45 years.

Before becoming a justice on the Supreme Court, Thompson served as a Superior Court judge in the eight-county Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, having been appointed to that position in 1979 by Gov. George Busbee. He was re-elected several times by the residents of the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit and served from 1979 to 1994. He served in the capacity of chief judge of the Ocmulgee Circuit from 1987 to 1994.

Before his appointment as a Superior Court judge, Thompson served from 1971 to 1979 as both judge of the Milledgeville City Court and judge of the Baldwin County Court (now known as the State Court). From 1969 until 1979, Thompson had a general law practice in Milledgeville.

He received his legal education from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University, earning his law degree in 1969. Thompson received his undergraduate training from Emory University and Oglethorpe University.

This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 11:28 AM with the headline "Milledgeville justice stepping down from state Supreme Court."