After more than 26 years on the bench, Superior Court Judge Ralph Van Pelt Jr. submitted his resignation to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday.
Van Pelt presides over the Lookout Mountain Circuit, which covers the Georgia counties of Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker.
He was facing an election May 24 – and a candidate running against him thinks the governor should allow the election to proceed.
In a news release, Van Pelt said he will not be leaving office until Dec. 1. Since he also served as a district attorney, he said he’s been in public office 33 years and will enter private practice after his retirement.
“I want to thank all the people who made my career possible and all the many thousands of people that have voted for me over the years. I look forward to the next chapter of my career,” Van Pelt said, adding in an interview that he plans to run for the Board of Governors for the state bar, which is like a legislature for the State Bar of Georgia, he said. That election is in March, and lawyers for the circuit vote.