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(Photo: AndreyPopov/iStockphoto.com)[/caption] The Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission is taking names for five more Superior Court openings for around the state that Gov. Nathan Deal will make before his last term runs out at the end of the year. The judicial circuits with openings are: Enotah, Northern, Dougherty, Ocmulgee and Ogeechee. Deal also is about to fill an opening in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit for the Fulton County Superior Court from a shortlist of candidates sent by the JNC. In the Enotah Circuit, Superior Court Judge Murphy Miller, son of the late Gov. Zell Miller, has resigned. He has presided over courts in Lumpkin, Towns, Union and White counties. He also started a mental health court for his Appalachian Mountain region to divert nonviolent offenders out of the traditional criminal justice track in order to address underlying mental illness and reduce the length of confinement. "After 38 years doing trials (with the past 18 years commuting up and over the Tennessee Valley Divide) I am finally able to let it go," Miller, 62, said in an email Wednesday. "The mental health court is still very active and the team continues to do good work. We have a graduation today in Union." In the Northern Circuit, Judge Thomas Hodges III has resigned. Hodges recently announced he will retire from the bench after serving as Superior Court judge in Elbert, Franklin, Hart, Madison and Oglethorpe counties for two decades. Gov. Roy Barnes appointed Hodges to the job in 1999. The Dougherty Judicial Circuit position in Albany is to replace Superior Court Judge Stephen Goss, whom Deal has appointed to the Georgia Court of Appeals. The Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit opening was created by Deal’s appointment of former Superior Court Judge E. Trenton Brown III to the Court of Appeals. In the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit, Superior Court Judge William Woodrum Jr. has resigned. Ogeechee covers southeast Georgia and includes Bulloch, Effingham, Jenkins and Screven counties. Woodrum has served the court since 1995. The JNC has invited members of the State Bar of Georgia and the general public to submit nominations for these vacancies by May 31. Mail should be directed to: Judicial Nominating Commission c/o Dana McGuire 600 Peachtree St. N.E., Suite 5200 Atlanta, GA 30308-2216 The JNC said nominations also will be accepted by fax to 404-962-6919 or by email to dana.mcguire@troutmansanders.com. To each person nominated, the commission will send an application package to be returned for receipt on or before June 14. The commission will meet to interview applicants sometime after June 25. Applicants will be notified of the time for their interview. All interviews will be held at the State Bar of Georgia, 104 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303. The JNC will select and recommend to the governor a shortlist of up to five potential judges for each position.