Charles R. “Chuck” Malone of Tuscaloosa, Ala., a 1981 graduate of Samford’s Cumberland School of Law, has been named chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.  A former Tuscaloosa County presiding circuit judge, Malone was serving as chief of staff to Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, who appointed him chief justice Monday, Aug. 1

            Malone is the first Cumberland graduate to serve as Alabama’s chief justice, according to Cumberland Dean John L. Carroll.

            “Judge Malone brings a perfect balance of judicial and administrative expertise needed for this position,” said Governor Bentley at a news conference introducing the new chief justice.

            A Republican, Malone succeeds Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb, a Democrat who was elected in 2006 but chose not to run for re-election in 2012.  She resigned earlier this summer, effective July 31.  Malone would face running for the chief justice post next year for a full term beginning in 2013, but said he had not thought of running for re-election.

            Malone, 57, was a lawyer in private practice in Tuscaloosa for 20 years, serving as president of the Tuscaloosa County Bar Association.  He was elected a Tuscaloosa County circuit judge in 2000 and re-elected in 2006.

             The new chief justice has served as an adjunct lecturer at Cumberland and at the University of Alabama, where he earned his undergraduate degree.

            He and his wife, Terri, are parents of two adult children.  The Malones are members of First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa.