The Cobb County Superior Court has chosen a new chief magistrate court judge to fill the opening created by Gov. Brian Kemp's appointment of Joyette Holmes as district attorney.

Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Brendan Murphy will succeed Holmes as chief magistrate, the Superior Court judges announced Wednesday.

“Mr. Murphy has the well-rounded legal and managerial experience to serve as our next chief magistrate judge,” Superior Court Chief Judge Reuben Green said in the announcement. “But more importantly, he has the right temperament.”

Murphy has served as the chief ADA assigned to Green's courtroom for the past three years.

“I have seen a man of character and integrity, a person who is patient, listens well and treats everyone with respect,” Green said.

Murphy ran unsuccessfully for Cobb County State Court in 2015, seeking to succeed Judge Kathryn Tanksley when she retired.

“Doing what's right is the reason I became a lawyer,” Murphy said in announcing his state court run. “That's what I work toward every day.”

Murphy started his career in private practice handling civil cases with the Marietta-based firm then known as Brock, Clay, Calhoun & Rogers. He worked in the education law group counseling metro Atlanta school districts—including Cobb County and the city of Marietta.

When he became a prosecutor, he started with traffic court in the solicitor general's office and and moved up to violent felonies with the DA. He has a law degree and a bachelor's from the University of Georgia. His experience includes two years in private practice and nine years as a prosecutor.

The Cobb Superior Court appointed Holmes in 2015 to fill the chief magistrate job after Frank Cox resigned. Cox, a longtime chief magistrate, had been the subject of complaints to the Judicial Qualifications Commission from litigants and lawyers alleging abusive treatment from him.

The magistrate court is the “court of first resort,” conducting the first hearings to those accused of crimes, as well as settling small claims disputes. The court operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has a staff of 70 people, including three full time judges. Another dozen part-time judges serve the court.

The chief magistrate oversees the operations of the court and assists the Superior Court in handling felony drug cases. Holmes has noted that the chief's job is as much administrative as legal. At her investiture for the DA's job July 1, judges and staff from the court she left behind gave her an emotional send-off. Judge Kellie Hill said at the investiture that Holmes has “transformed the magistrate court.”

Superior Court Administrator Tom Charron said Murphy will be sworn in at a ceremony to be scheduled soon.