PHOENIX — Arizona’s top judge has announced she will be stepping down from the bench.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth V. McGregor announced Monday she will retire at the end of June. That will create an opening that Gov. Jan Brewer will fill by choosing among at least three nominees recommended by a state commission.
McGregor’s current term on the court ends in June 2010 but she said she and her husband decided it’s time to spend more time with family and friends and to pursue other interests.
She was appointed to the Supreme Court in February 1998 by then-Gov. Jane Hull. McGregor previously served on the Court of Appeals after working 15 years in private practice and as a law clerk to former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.