Gov. Brian Kemp now has a shortlist of six candidates to consider for appointment to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Kemp’s selection will take the seat being vacated by Chief Justice Harold Melton, who announced in February that he would leave on July 1. Melton will then have 30 years of service in state government, making him retirement eligible though he is only 55. He started as an assistant attorney and became executive counsel to Gov. Sonny Perdue, later secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Perdue appointed Melton to the high court in 2005.