Georgia Supreme Court selects next chief justice

The new roles take effect April 1.

Prior to his 2016 appointment by then-Gov. Nathan Deal, Peterson served on the Georgia Court of Appeals, as general counsel for the University System of Georgia, as Georgia’s first solicitor general in the Attorney General’s Office and as executive counsel to the governor. He was elected to full six-year terms in 2018 and 2024.

Before entering state government, Peterson practiced law at King & Spalding in Atlanta and also clerked for Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a graduate of Kennesaw State University and Harvard Law School, according to his biography on the Georgia Supreme Court’s website.

Peterson lives in Cobb County with his wife, Jennifer, and their two children.

The chief justice, who serves a single four-year term, is the leader of Georgia’s judicial branch and the spokesperson for the state Supreme Court. They preside over oral arguments and deliberations, and also chair the Judicial Council of Georgia, the judicial branch’s policymaking body.

Boggs’ announcement that he will step down at the end of March came just three months after voters reelected him to another six-year term. His departure gives Republican Gov. Brian Kemp the chance to appoint another replacement to the powerful court that is often the final say in contentious public policy disputes.

The resignation means that Kemp, who still has two years left in his term, will have appointed a majority of the nine-member court. Kemp previously appointed justices Verda Colvin, Shawn Ellen LaGrua, Carla McMillian and Andrew Pinson.