Chief Magistrate Judge Marvin Broyles passed away Friday morning, County Administrator Randy Dowling confirmed.

This news comes after Broyles suffered a stroke in late January.

He was treated in Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton and was later transferred to Redmond Regional Hospital in Rome.

Broyles was in the midst of his second term as chief magistrate judge; he had served in that capacity for six years, Dowling said.

Before being elected to that position, he was appointed assistant magistrate, where he served in a full-time capacity beginning in 1989.

Broyles’ seat will be filled by appointment with a vote among the Cherokee Circuit Superior Court judges. Those judges are: Howell, Smith, G. Carey Nelson and D. Scott Smith.

According to Chief Superior Court Judge Shepherd L. Howell, "Georgia law provides that the vacancy created by the death of Chief Magistrate Marvin J. Broyles shall be filled by an appointment by majority vote of the judges of Superior Court for the remainder of the unexpired term.”

“Interested candidates for this appointment shall have until Monday, Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. to submit a resume to the office of Judge David K. Smith, 2nd Floor, Courthouse Annex, Calhoun, Georgia,” Howell stated. “The four judges of the Superior Court will then select a successor as soon as possible after that date.”

About Marvin Broyles

According to his obituary on the Thomas Funeral Home website, Broyles was born in Trion, Ga. In 1944.

He “lived most of his life in Gordon County and was a member and Deacon at the Sugar Valley Baptist Church,” the obituary states. “He was a former Cub master of the Belwood Cub Scout Pack 53 and was an outdoor enthusiast.”