Second District Judge John Stegner of Moscow will fill the Idaho Supreme Court vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Warren Jones.

Gov. Butch Otter appointed Stegner out of four finalists nominated by the Idaho Judicial Council.

Stegner, a University of Idaho College of Law graduate, has been a Moscow-based district judge since January 1997.

According to the Idaho Press Tribune, Stegner also managed Otter’s first statewide campaign, when Otter ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1978.

Otter chose Stegner from among four finalists named by the Idaho Judicial Council after public interviews with 14 applicants, including six sitting judges.

Stegner is the first justice from northern Idaho since former Chief Justice Linda Copple Trout left the court in 2007.