October 19, 2022 3:00 a.m. 

On Tuesday, Governor Kate Brown announced that she intends to fill a judicial vacancy on the Oregon Supreme Court.

A release said this was created by the planned retirement of Chief Justice Martha Walters. Brown thanked the Chief Justice for her dedicated judicial service. The retirement of Chief Justice Walters is effective at the end of this year.

A release from the Oregon Judicial Department said replacing Walters as Chief Justice will be Justice Meagan A. Flynn, who is 55 years old. Flynn was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court in April 2017 by Governor Kate Brown. Flynn had served on the Oregon Court of Appeals since November 2013. Before her judicial service, Flynn practiced civil and appellate law at two Portland law firms and was active in the Oregon State Bar.

The OJD release said by statue, the Supreme Court justices elect the Chief Justice to a six-year term. The Chief Justice also serves as the administrative head of the Judicial Department. That is the state court system consisting of 27 judicial districts across the state and three statewide courts, 200 trial and appellate judges, 1,720 FTE non-judge employees and a biennial General Fund budget of $600.6 million.