Judge Ralph VanPelt, Superior Court Judge in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, handed in his resignation this week and that leaves a lot of questions as to what will happen to the position.

Because of VanPelt’s retirement, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp could name a replacement who could serve a two-year term without an election having to be held to fill the seat.  VanPelt would have been running for re-election against declared candidate Melissa Hise.  Hise is a Summerville attorney that lives in Walker County.

While Superior Court Judges in Georgia run non-partisan, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a lot of politics involved in the races.  Governors tend to appoint judges that line up with their own political views.  Republican Governor Brian Kemp is facing his own re-election bid this year in a hotly contested race.

Hise says that she hopes that Governor Kemp won’t appoint anyone to fill the position and let the voters decide who will replace VanPelt.