Judge Gould appointed to Arizona Supreme Court

BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press

Gov. Doug Ducey has filled two new seats on the Arizona Supreme Court with a state appellate court judge and Arizona’s solicitor general.

Both appointees announced Monday are Republicans, as is Ducey.

Andrew Gould has been on the Arizona Court of Appeals since 2012 and previously spent more than a decade as a Yuma County Superior Court judge. He was a prosecutor in Yuma and Maricopa counties and in Indiana from 1994-2001.

John Lopez IV has been Arizona’s solicitor general since January 2015 and was previously a federal prosecutor and in private practice.

The solicitor general handles county and state criminal appeals, defends constitutional challenges to state statutes and issues legal opinions.

Ducey signed legislation in May to add two justices to the current five-member state high court.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.