The judicial community is about to change in the Tallapoosa Circuit as the Superior Court is now down a judge for the time being, officially.

A letter provided by our friends over at the Polk County Standard Journal this evening provides the confirmation of reporting on Friday evening that Judge Meng Lim had resigned from his seat as the Chief Judge of the Tallapoosa Circuit Superior Court.

His resignation was effective today, but he had already begun moving out of his offices (at least in Cedartown) over the weekend.

Here’s the letter submitted to the Governor’s Office from Judge Lim announcing his resignation:

The official word of his leaving office came just over a month after voters decided to go with a different candidate for the Superior Court seat, who would have started on January 1, 2023 in both Polk and Haralson Counties. Now it might be possible that local Judge Andrew Roper will be sworn in earlier, but thus far no word has come from the Governor’s office on whether they will appoint him to take over earlier, or whether senior judges will fill in for the time being.

Per Superior Court Judge Mark Murphy, he will take over as Chief Judge starting tomorrow on Wednesday, July 6.

The court – already rocked by COVID-19 delays due to closures in 2020 that extended into 2021 – will likely see further delays in the trial calendar across the circuit due to the resignation.

Local officials in the Superior Court noted the official word came to them this evening as well.