Nels S.D. Peterson, an East Cobb resident who has served on the Georgia Supreme Court since 2016, has been named the body’s Chief Justice.
He succeeds Michael Boggs, who announced earlier this week he was resigning from the court on March 31.
Peterson, 46, a Kennesaw State University graduate, is an active member of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.
He was appointed to the high court in 2018, then won six-year terms in non-partisan elections in 2018 and 2024.
As chief justice, he will serve a single four-year term. Most recently Peterson served as the court’s presiding judge.
According to a release from the Supreme Court, the chief justice “is the spokesperson for the Supreme Court, as well as for the entire state judiciary. He presides over the Court’s oral arguments and the Court’s deliberation of cases, although he has only one vote as does each of the eight other Justices.
“The Chief Justice also chairs the Judicial Council of Georgia, the judicial branch policy-making body created by the Supreme Court that includes the State Bar President and 27 judges who represent all classes of courts in the state. The Presiding Justice serves in the Chief Justice’s absence and is the vice-chair of the Judicial Council.”
Peterson also served on the Georgia Court of Appeals, was Georgia’s first solicitor general in the Georgia Attorney General’s office, was an executive counsel in the Georgia’s governor’s office and was general counsel for the University of Georgia.
In private practice, Peterson was a partner with the Atlanta law firm of King and Spalding and was a clerk to Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
After graduating from KSU, Peterson earned a law degree from Harvard University.
He and his wife Jennifer have two children.
In 2021, Boggs succeeded as chief justice Harold Melton, a Wheeler High School graduate who served on the high court for 16 years. Melton is now in private law practice.
Related:
- Cobb Drug Treatment Court designated a national mentor court
- Retired minister in East Cobb acquitted in 1975 Pa. slaying
- Ann Harris elected as Cobb Superior Court Chief Judge
- Eight youths graduate from Cobb Diversionary Court program
- Newly elected Cobb District Attorney sworn into office
- Cobb Chief Magistrate appoints three to magistrate bench
- Man gets life sentence for 2015 murders of East Cobb c0uple
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
