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Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice vacancy (March 2025)
| Georgia Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Boggs vacancy |
| Date: March 31, 2025 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Ben Land |
| Date: July 17, 2025 |
Governor Brian Kemp (R) appointed Ben Land to the Georgia Supreme Court. Land replaces Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs, who retired on March 31, 2025. Boggs has stated he desires to return to private practice.[1] Land is Governor Kemp's (R) fifth nominee to the nine-member supreme court. The chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court is selected through a chamber vote, which means that Land will join the court as an Associate Justice. The Georgia Supreme Court chose Justice Nels Peterson to succeed Boggs as chief justice, following a chamber vote in April 2025.
In Georgia, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.
If a vacancy appears on the court, the position is filled by assisted appointment. The governor chooses an appointee from a list of qualified candidates compiled by the judicial nominating commission. As of March 2023, the judicial nominating commission consisted of 35 members, each appointed by the governor. For each court vacancy, the commission recommends candidates, but the governor is not bound to the commission's choices and may choose to appoint a judge not found on the list.[2] If appointed, an interim judge must run in the next general election held at least six months after the appointment, and, if confirmed by voters, he or she may finish the rest of the predecessor's term.[3][4][5]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Georgia Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- A list of finalists recommended to the governor.
- A list of candidates who applied to the vacancy.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2025.
The appointee
- See also: Ben Land
Land first became a member of the Georgia Supreme Court through an appointment. Governor of Georgia Brian Kemp (R) first appointed Land to the court on July 17, 2025. He took office on July 24, 2025. Prior to joining the Georgia Supreme Court, Land served on the Georgia Court of Appeals from 2022 until 2025.
Appointee candidates and nominations
Finalists
On May 13, 2025, the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission announced four finalists that qualified to succeed Boggs. From here, Governor Brian Kemp (R) will make the final appointment. The finalists are:[6]
- U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia Magistrate judge Brian K. Epps
- Appellate judge Ben Land
- Appellate judge John Pipkin III
- Atlanta Superior Court judge Paige Whitaker[7]
Applicants
In its list of finalists, released on May 13, 2025, the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission announced that 23 candidates applied to fill the vacancy on the Georgia Supreme Court. Of those 23 applicants, thirteen were interviewed by the Commission.[7]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Georgia
In Georgia, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Georgia Supreme Court
Justices
Following Boggs' retirement, the Georgia Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Charlie Bethel | Appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal (R) in 2018, and elected in 2020 | |
| ■ Verda Colvin | Appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in 2021, and elected in 2022 | |
| ■ John Ellington | Elected in 2018, and re-elected in 2024 | |
| ■ Shawn LaGrua | Appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in 2020, and elected in 2022 | |
| ■ Carla W. McMillian | Appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in 2020, and elected in 2022 | |
| ■ Nels Peterson | Appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal (R) in 2016, and elected in 2018 and 2024 | |
| ■ Andrew Pinson | Appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in 2022, and elected in 2024 | |
| ■ Sarah Warren | Appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal (R) in 2018, and elected in 2020 |
About the court
Founded in 1845, the Georgia Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has nine judgeships. The current chief of the court is Nels Peterson.
As of July 2025, eight judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor and one was initially selected in a nonpartisan election.
The Georgia Supreme Court meets in Atlanta, Georgia. The court sits for three terms: the December term (first Monday in December until March 31); the April term (first Monday in April until July 17); and the August term (first Monday in August until November 18).
In Georgia, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.
About Chief Justice Boggs
- See also: Michael P. Boggs
Michael P. Boggs received his B.S. from Georgia Southern College in 1985 and his J.D. from Mercer University School of Law in 1990.[8][9] From 1981 to 1982, he attended the Georgia Institute of Technology but did not earn a degree. He also holds an A.A. from Waycross College, which he earned in 1983.[10]
Boggs' career experience includes working in insurance defense litigation and running his own general trial practice. In 2000, Boggs was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, a position he held until 2004, when he was elected to the Waycross Judicial Circuit. He was re-elected in 2008 and served as Superior Court Judge. From 2012 to 2016, Boggs served on the Georgia Court of Appeals. He was nominated to the Georgia Supreme Court in 2016 and re-elected for a six-year term in 2018.[11]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2025
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2025
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2025. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2024.
| 2025 State Supreme Court Vacancies |
|---|
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Associate Press, "Georgia Supreme Court chief justice to step down at end of March," February 25, 2025
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Georgia; Judicial Nominating Commissions," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedGAgen - ↑ Governor Brian Kemp, "Executive Order," accessed March 29, 2023
- ↑ Governor Brian Kemp, "Gov. Kemp Names 35 to Judicial Nominating Commission," October 27, 2021
- ↑ Note: Finalists are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Judicial Nominating Commission State of Georgia, "JNC Short List Letter - GA Supreme Court - 05.13.25," May 13, 2025
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedappoint - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedDistrictnom - ↑ Senate Judiciary Committee, "Questionnaire for Judiciary Nominees," accessed July 5, 2021
- ↑ Supreme Court of Georgia, "Presiding Justice Michael P. Boggs," accessed July 5, 2021
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Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Georgia • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Georgia
State courts:
Georgia Supreme Court • Georgia Court of Appeals • Georgia Superior Courts • Georgia State Courts • Georgia Business Court • Georgia Tax Court • Georgia Juvenile Courts • Georgia Probate Courts • Georgia Magistrate Courts • Georgia Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Georgia • Georgia judicial elections • Judicial selection in Georgia
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