Georgia governor makes appointments to appellate courts

ATLANTA (AP) Georgia's governor on Friday announced appointments to the state's appellate courts.

Gov. Brian Kemp announced that he has tapped state Court of Appeals Judge Carla Wong McMillian to move up to the Georgia Supreme Court. Judges Verda Colvin and John ``Trea'' Pipkin III were appointed to the Court of Appeals.

Prior to sitting on the lower appeals court, McMillian served as a state court judge in Fayette County, worked in private practice and was a federal appeals court clerk. She will fill the seat vacated by the retirement earlier this month of Justice Robert Benham.

Colvin has been a superior court judge in the Macon Judicial Circuit since April 2014. Prior to that, she served as a prosecutor and worked in private practice.

Pipkin is a superior court judge and solicitor-general in McDonough and teaches law at Gordon State College. He was previously a prosecutor