ATLANTA – Georgia Chief Justice David Nahmias resigned Friday, three days after delivering his first State of the Judiciary address to a joint session of the General Assembly.
Nahmias will leave the bench at the end of the state Supreme Court’s next term in July after more than 12 years on the bench. During that time, he has written more than 470 opinions and joined more than 2,700 others.
“I believe that I have contributed to making the decisional law of Georgia clearer, more consistent, and more faithful to the text and original understanding of our state’s Constitution and statutes,” he wrote in a resignation letter hand-delivered to Gov. Brian Kemp.
Nahmias went on to explain that he is leaving to spend more time with his family. He has not decided the next step in his legal career.
Before joining the court, Nahmias spent almost 15 years as a federal prosecutor, including a stint as U.S. attorney in Atlanta.
He was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 2009 by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue, then was elected to the position in 2010 and reelected in 2016. He stepped up to chief justice last summer when Harold Melton left the court for the private sector.
Kemp will appoint a new justice.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.