Tom Glaze
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Legal Newsline) - Longtime Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice Tom Glaze said Tuesday he planned to leave the bench.
Glaze, who has been on the state's high court since 1986, said he had already informed Gov. Mike Beebe of his plans to retire. The Democratic governor will appoint an interim justice to serve until 2010.
Glaze said in a letter to his colleagues and supporters that he wants to pursue other interests.
"There is a time and season for all things, as the proverb goes, and I have concluded that the time has arrived that I should leave the work that I have loved and that your friendship and help over the past forty-four years did so much to nurture," he wrote.
Although Glaze did not say when precisely he will leave the high court, he said it would be "fairly quick," and would largely be determined by the governor.
"It's really up to the governor because he's going to have to find somebody who will take my place and I don't know what kind of difficulty that will be for him, or the things he'll have to consider," he was quoted by The Associated Press as saying.
Glaze, 70, has two years left on his eight-year term. The University of Arkansas alumnus served on the state Court of Appeals from 1981 to 1986.
From Legal Newsline: Reach reporter Chris Rizo at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.