KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Central Nebraska’s Buffalo County Judge Graten Beavers has announced he will retire at the end of January.

Beavers was appointed to the bench in May 1991, and was retained in his position by area voters four times, most recently in 2012.

Beavers served on the Nebraska Supreme Court’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee from 1999 to 2003, as well as several committees for the Nebraska County Judges Association. He is the current chairman of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Alumni Association Advisory Council and also serves on the College of Law Alumni Council.

The Judicial Resources Commission will study judicial workload statistics to determine whether Beavers’ retirement creates a judicial vacancy on the 9th Judicial District’s County Court, which covers Buffalo and Hall counties.