Oregon Supreme Court Justice Jack Landau will step down at the end of this year.
Landau announced his retirement in a letter to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday.
“I have been honored to serve the people of this state and its justice system for 25 years as a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals and as a member of the Supreme Court,” he wrote.
Landau, 64, was appointed to the state Court of Appeals in 1992 by Gov. Barbara Roberts. In 2010, he was elected to a vacant seat on the Oregon Supreme Court, earning 71 percent of the vote in a two-way race. He was elected to a second six-year term in 2016, running unopposed.
Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Balmer called Landau’s retirement “a loss for the Supreme Court and the people of Oregon." He added that Landau “brought an incisive intellect and balanced, thoughtful reasoning to his work on the Court.”
Landau's retirement takes effect Dec. 31.
Landau will be the third justice on Oregon’s highest court to step down this year. Judge Richard Baldwin retired in March, and Judge David Brewer left his seat in June.
Brown will select a new judge to fill Landau’s seat.
Copyright 2017 Oregon Public Broadcasting
