LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed a former Kent County judge to fill a vacancy on the Michigan appeals court.

James Redford now serves as director of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. He joined the Snyder administration in 2015 as chief legal counsel after losing a 2014 race for the state Supreme Court.

Redford was a Kent County judge for more than a decade. He’s also a former federal prosecutor. Snyder says Redford has had a “distinguished career as a public servant.”

The Snyder administration ends on Jan. 1 when Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, becomes governor.