Tennessee Court of Appeals judge Charles Susano Jr. has been elected presiding judge of the court. He succeeds Herschel Franks, who retired at the end of last year.

Susano has been a member of the Court of Appeals since March 1994 when he was appointed by former Gov. Ned Ray McWherter. He was elected to the post later that year and re-elected in 1998 and 2006. Before being appointed to the court, Susano worked at Knoxville firms Susano Sheppeard Giordano & Swanson and Bernstein Susano & Stair.

In a statement, courts officials said Susano’s election means all three state appellate courts — the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals — are now being led  by men with chambers in the Historic U.S. Post Office and Court House in Knoxville. Gary Wade is chief justice of the Supreme Court and Joseph Tipton is presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals.