Thompson to become presiding justice of Ga. Supreme Court

Justice Hugh Thompson has been unanimously elected by his colleagues to serve as the next presiding justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. He will assume his new role on July 18.

This also means Thompson is next in line to serve as the court's chief justice and will succeed Carol Hunstein when her term as chief ends in 2013. Thompson, a native of Milledgeville, is a former trial judge and was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 1994 by then-Gov. Zell Miller.