Judge Rebecca Stern speaks speaks from the bench in this file photograph from 2013.Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern made her retirement plans official today.
Stern, 57, submitted her retirement paperwork to the state about three months after she made public the fact that she was considering a 2015 relinquishment of her official duties. The decision comes less than six months after Stern was re-elected to another eight-year term.
The judge said in November that she intended to retire to Puerto Rico, where she and her husband, attorney Doug Curtis, have owned a vacation home for years.
An 11-member council appointed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will hold a public hearing and send the names of three qualified replacement candidates to the governor, who in turn will appoint Stern's replacement. That person will serve until the next judicial election in August 2016.