ATLANTA – Georgia Chief Justice Michael Boggs announced Tuesday that he will resign from the state Supreme Court at the end of next month, the last day of the Court’s current term.

Boggs plans to return to private practice in South Georgia.
In a resignation letter hand-delivered to Gov. 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.”

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 reelection to the high-court bench in 2018 and 2024. He became chief justice in July 2022.

In that role, he chaired the Judicial Council of Georgia, the policy-making 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.

In his letter, Boggs noted that his wife has recently retired from full-time teaching, as well as increasing family and personal obligations at his home in South Georgia.

Kemp will appoint a new justice to fill Boggs’ seat, and the court will select its next chief justice.