South Georgia native returning home
ATLANTA — Georgia Chief Justice Michael Boggs announced last week he will resign from the state Supreme Court at the end of this month, the last day of the Court’s current term.
Boggs, a Waycross native, said he plans to return to private practice in South Georgia. He and his family live in Pierce County.
In a resignation letter hand-delivered Tuesday, February 25 to Governor Brian Kemp, Boggs noted his 25 years in elective office, including more than two decades of service as a judge at various state court levels.
“Throughout my service, I have endeavored to be a good steward of the public’s trust,” Boggs wrote. “During my 21 years as a judge, I have found it especially rewarding to contribute to efforts that improve our state’s judicial system for the citizens who rely on it to deliver justice for all.”
Kemp will appoint a new justice to fill Boggs’ remaining term that expires at the end of 2030. The chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court is selected by its members to serve two, two-year terms.
“On behalf of grateful Georgians throughout the state, Marty and I would like to thank Chief Justice Michael Boggs for his contributions to our state and service on the highest court in Georgia,” Kemp wrote on X. “We’re also grateful for his many years of judicial and civic service before taking a seat on the Georgia Supreme Court. 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.” In his letter, Boggs noted his wife, Heather, recently retired from fulltime teaching in Ware County, as well as increasing family and personal obligations at his home.
Two day’s later, the court’s justices unanimously selected Presiding Justice Nels Peterson to replace Boggs on April 1. The justices also unanimously chose Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren to replace Peterson.
Boggs, Peterson and Warren all were appointed to the court by former Gov. Nathan Deal.
After spending two terms in the Georgia House of Representatives in the early 2000s, Boggs moved over to the courts, where he served first as a Superior Court judge in the Waycross Judicial Circuit. Subsequently, he joined the Georgia Court of Appeals, then was appointed to the state Supreme Court by then-Gov. Nathan Deal in 2016.
Boggs won re-election to six-year terms on the high-court bench in 2018 and 2024. He became chief justice in July 2022, chosen by his peers to replace David Nahmias, who resigned after 12 years on the Supreme Court and less than a year as chief justice. Nahimas succeeded Harold Melton’s tenure as chief justice from 2019 to July 2021.
As chief justice, Boggs chaired the Judicial Council of Georgia, the policymaking body for the judicial branch, and initiated ongoing efforts to improve judicial security, address the state’s civil justice gap, and respond to the challenges and promises of artificial intelligence in the courts.
Boggs also sought to bolster access to justice through collaborative initiatives with the State Bar of Georgia’s Office of Bar Admissions and the Supreme Court’s Committee on Access to Justice. As chairman of the Judicial Council’s American Rescue Plan Act Funding Committee, he worked with the state’s executive branch to direct resources to trial courts to address case backlogs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last month, Boggs kicked off the Georgia Bar, Media & Judiciary Conference in downtown Atlanta by discussing a judges’ role in maintaining public trust and transparency and challenges courts face with how they’re portrayed.
Boggs also warned of the dangers of partisan political actors and other people spreading disinformation that’s led to a rise in physical attacks on judges and other threats to court systems.
“I think ultimately the threats manifest themselves in ways that are dangerous to our institution,” he said.
