2020 Georgia Code
Title 15 - Courts
Chapter 3 - Court of Appeals
§ 15-3-4. Election and Term of Office of Judges of Court of Appeals

1. The Judges of the Court of Appeals shall be elected at the general primary in each even-numbered year in the manner in which Justices of the Supreme Court are elected. The election of the Judges shall be as follows:
   1. Successors to the Judges serving in judgeships which existed prior to 1999 shall be elected as follows:
      1. Successors to any Judges whose terms expired at the end of 1998 shall be elected at the general election in 2004 and each sixth year thereafter;
      2. Successors to any Judges whose terms expire at the end of 2000 shall be elected at the general election in 2000 and each sixth year thereafter;
      3. Successors to any Judges whose terms expire at the end of 2002 shall be elected at the general election in 2002 and each sixth year thereafter; and
      4. Successors to any Judges whose terms expire at the end of 2004 shall be elected at the general election in 2004 and each sixth year thereafter; and
   2. Successors to the two Judges serving in the judgeships created in 1999 shall be elected at the 2000 general election and each sixth year thereafter.

      The terms of the Judges shall begin on January 1 following their election and, except as provided above, shall continue for six years and until their successors are qualified. They shall be commissioned accordingly by the Governor.

2. The additional judgeships created in 2015 shall be appointed by the Governor for a term beginning January 1, 2016, and continuing through December 31, 2018, and until their successors are elected and qualified. Their successors shall be elected in the manner provided by law for the election of Judges of the Court of Appeals at the nonpartisan judicial election in 2018, for a term of six years beginning on January 1, 2019, and until their successors are elected and qualified. Future successors shall be elected at the nonpartisan judicial election each sixth year after such election for terms of six years and until their successors are elected and qualified. They shall take office on the first day of January following the date of the election.

(Ga. L. 1916, p. 56, § 2; Code 1933, § 24-3502; Ga. L. 1960, p. 158, § 2; Ga. L. 1961, p. 140, § 2; Ga. L. 1985, p. 149, § 15; Ga. L. 1996, p. 405, § 2; Ga. L. 1999, p. 10, § 2; Ga. L. 2014, p. 866, § 15/SB 340; Ga. L. 2015, p. 919, § 1-2A/HB 279.)

- Election and term of office generally, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VII, Para. I and § 21-2-9.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1999, "Judges" was substituted for "judges" in paragraph (2) (now paragraph (a)(2)).

- Ga. L. 1999, p. 10, § 3, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "The initial judges to serve in the two judgeships created by this Act shall be appointed by the Governor for terms to expire at the end of 2000."

- For article, "The Selection and Tenure of Judges," see 2 Ga. St. B. J. 281 (1966). For article, "Annual Survey of Georgia Law: June 1, 2015 - May 31, 2016: Special Contribution: Open Chambers Revisited: Demystifying the Inner Workings and Culture of the Georgia Court of Appeals," see 68 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (2016).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Quo warranto denied challenging appointment of judges.

- Trial court's denial of the challenger's petition for a writ of quo warranto was affirmed because the newly created positions on the Georgia Court of Appeals qualified as vacancies under Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VII, Para. III; thus, the governor had the authority to appoint judges to the vacancies created by amended O.C.G.A. § 15-3-1(a). Clark v. Deal, 298 Ga. 893, 785 S.E.2d 524 (2016).