Gov. Rick Perry has appointed his chief of staff to the Texas Supreme Court.
Jeffrey Boyd will join the state's highest civil court Dec. 3 and finish a term that expires at the end of 2014.
He replaces Dale Wainwright, who resigned Sept. 30 to join Bracewell & Giuliani LLP in Austin.
Boyd became Perry's chief of staff last year and was previously the governor's general counsel.
In 2004, Perry named his then general counsel, David Medina, to the Supreme Court. Medina lost a re-election bid during the Republican primary in July.
The general counsel helps the governor review death-penalty cases.
Perry has overseen 253 executions and commuted one sentence -- granting life in prison to a death row inmate who drove the getaway car during a robbery and murder.
