NASHVILLE (AP) - Former state Attorney General Paul Summers has been appointed to a four-year term as a senior judge beginning on Jan. 1.

Summers is currently a partner at the Waller law firm in Nashville.

According to a news release from the firm, prior to his nearly eight years as attorney general, Summers spent eight years on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. Before that, he was district attorney general for the 25th Judicial District in West Tennessee.

Summers has 33 years of commissioned military service as a judge advocate general officer, retiring with the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army. Summers received the National Guard Distinguished Service Medal from Gov. Phil Bredesen and the Legion of Merit from President George W. Bush.