Lewis Lamb.

Gov. Nathan Deal announced Tuesday the appointment of Lewis Lamb as district attorney of the Southwestern Judicial Circuit.

Lamb will fill the vacancy created by the passing of Plez Hardin. Hardin was found dead in his pickup truck on April 8, a single gunshot wound to his chest. Law enforcement investigators ruled the death a suicide and later revealed Hardin was in the midst of plea negotiations for a tax evasion charge related to theft of public funds from his office.

That Sunday came as a shock to Hardin's staff and friends, Lamb said Tuesday—not only to learn of his death but the circumstances surrounding it. Lamb had served as Hardin's chief assistant district attorney since Hardin took office in January 2009. But Lamb already had 22 years of legal experience before that, mostly in private practice in Albany but also a brief stint as a public defender. He earned a J.D. with honors from the University of Georgia law school in 1987.

Lamb has served as acting district attorney since Hardin's death.

“This was a mess that we all had to deal with together,” Lamb said. “I appreciate all the support and encouragement I've been given.”

Lamb said he told the governor in an interview for the job that he had been Hardin's chief prosecutor and had no role in office administration. “I spent more time in the courtroom than at my desk,” Lamb said. “Everything I know about administration I've learned in the last six weeks.”

Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, had been especially helpful, Lamb said. At the beginning of his time as acting DA, he added, “I told the staff I will buy lunch for the first person who finds me Pete Skandalakis' cellphone number.” He called and asked, “What do I do first?” Lamb said he had probably spent 50 hours on the phone with PAC learning about what needed to be done.

The appointment will take effect upon swearing in, Deal said in a news release Tuesday. Lamb will serve the remainder of Hardin's term, which ends in 2020, and then will have to run for the office to keep it.

Lamb said the governor asked him in the job interview if he could “sustain the appointment” and whether he had any experience running for office. Lamb had a surprising answer.

In 2016, Lamb ran for an open superior court seat. He said he came in “a distant second.” But now he feels the bitter experience may be helpful in 2020. And it made a good answer to the governor's question.