COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Costa Pleicones appears on his way to a short term as the state's chief justice.
Pleicones was the only person to apply to be the state's top judge when Chief Justice Jean Toal is forced to retire this year because of her age.
The state requires judges to retire by the end of the year when they turn 72. So Pleicones' stay as chief justice may be short as well. He turns 72 in February 2016.
Pleicones has been on the Supreme Court since 2000.
The Judicial Merit Selection Commission says it will hold a screening hearing for Pleicones and other court seats in late April.
Toal has spent 27 years on the Supreme Court as she prepares to retire by year's end.
