Gov. Nathan Deal has picked Superior Court Judge Michael Boggs of Blackshear to fill a vacancy on the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Boggs, who served in the state House of Representatives from 2001 to 2004, has presided as judge in the Waycross Judicial Circuit and founded its drug court program. More recently, Boggs served as a member of the Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform. He will succeed Judge J.D. Smith, who is resigning from the appeals court at the end of the year.