Justice Harold Melton, Supreme Court of Georgia (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

The last time the Georgia Supreme Court changed its chief justice, the departing one and the incoming one were the same age. Chief Justice Hugh Thompson was 73 when he retired, the same age as Chief Justice P. Harris Hines when he took on the role in January 2017.

The new chief justice who will be sworn in Tuesday, Harold Melton, is 23 years younger than his predecessor. Hines will turn 75 in September; Melton will turn 52.

Melton didn't make much of the generational transition as he was packing up to change offices. “It just means I have a better jump shot,” he joked.

“It is a difference that our court will adjust to,” Melton said. “There's a certain energy to try things a different way, maybe a greater utilization of technology.”

The younger justices all have families with young children, he noted. “There's more of a desire to be at home and balance travel and outside events,” Melton said. “But we are still very much an interactive court. We still feel like we need to be together.”

Hines will administer the oath of office to Melton as chief and David Nahmias as presiding justice in a ceremony at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the House of Representatives chamber of the state Capitol.

Melton and Hines have known each other since Melton was student senate president at Auburn University and Hines was a Cobb County Superior Court judge. Hines recalled that his wife, who is from Alabama, read a newspaper article about Melton and his interest in the law. She urged her husband to call Melton and offer him a summer internship. “He had a better gig—working for the governor of Alabama. But he was available the next summer,” Hines recalled of Melton. “I don't know if he's like my youngest brother or my oldest son, but he's a great guy, and I love him dearly.”

Melton, a former assistant attorney general and governor's executive counsel, was 39 when then-Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed him to the high court, in 2005. Within a few years, Melton was joined by Nahmias, who is one year older, and Justice Keith Blackwell, who was 36 when he was appointed in 2012.

Gov. Nathan Deal, who appointed Blackwell, acknowledged a conscious shift to younger judges “so they can serve longer and give the courts greater stability.”

At the same time Hines became chief and Melton became presiding justice in January 2017, they were joined by three more junior justices, only one of whom is older than Melton—and not by much. Justice Michael Boggs moved up from the Court of Appeals at 55. Deal, who appointed all three, swore in Boggs first to replace retiring Chief Justice Hugh Thompson, then the other two to fill newly created positions: Justice Nels Peterson, former Court of Appeals judge, and Justice Britt Grant, former solicitor general, who both were 38 when they went on the court.

When Grant left last month to become a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Deal replaced her with another 36-year-old: Solicitor General Sarah Warren.

Melton has shown the ability to reach across any generational divide. His name came up as a mentor in an interview with the Judicial Nominating Commission. Court of Appeals Judge Clyde Reese said, when the members asked him for a judicial hero, he named Melton.

“He was at the attorney general's office when I started,” said Reese, who is seven years older than Melton. “He was an adviser and a mentor to me.”

Melton said the investiture Tuesday will simply be a time for gratitude and celebration.

“The obvious main theme is a thank you for support in personal life and professional life,” Melton said. “It's a chance to say thanks for all the people involved in making the judiciary as cohesive an operation as it is and continues to be.”