INDIANAPOLIS (AP): Indiana Supreme Court Justice Robert Rucker will retire this year after 18 years on the court.

Chief Justice Loretta Rush announced Rucker’s impending retirement Wednesday during her annual State of the Judiciary address, but did not say when he would be retiring.

Rush praised Rucker for his “long, faithful, and conscientious service” to Indiana.

Rucker is the court’s last remaining Democratic appointee and its only black justice. He was named to the bench in 1999 by Gov. Frank O’Bannon.

A seven-member commission will search for a successor to fill Rucker’s vacancy and recommend three finalists to Gov. Eric Holcomb.

Former Justice Brent E. Dickson retired last year after more than 30 years on the court.

Then-Gov. Mike Pence named Geoffrey Slaughter, an Indianapolis attorney, in May to fill that vacancy.