PORTLAND (AP) — Justice Roland Cole has been appointed to serve as new chief justice of the Superior Court in Maine.

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Leigh Saufley announced the appointment on Tuesday to fill a vacancy created by Justice Thomas Humphrey’s appointment to the supreme court.

The chief justice of the Superior Court is responsible for the operation of Maine’s 17 Superior Courts. There’s one in each county except in Aroostook County, which has two.

Cole previously served as Chief Justice of the Superior Court from June of 1995 to June of 1997.

He was first appointed to the District Court in 1981 by then-Gov. Joseph Brennan. Then he was appointed to the Superior Court in 1986.