A former juvenile prosecutor who is presently an associate juvenile court judge has been appointed to serve the last two years of retiring Juvenile Court Judge Tim Pape’s term.

The appointment of Greg Price was made by the Floyd County Superior Court judges.

Price will serve the last two years of Pape’s term and said he plans to run for the judgeship when it is back on the ballot in 2014.

Pape announced in July he would resign at the end of this year after serving 30 years on the bench. Price will take the bench on Jan. 1.

Price began his work with juvenile court in the 1980s when he worked as a prosecutor for the district attorney’s office.

“After leaving the DA’s office and going into private practice, Judge Pape asked me to become involved as guardian ad litem for certain higher profile cases and eventually asked me to serve as a pro tem judge for him on occasions when he had conflicts or illness,” Price said. “Almost five years ago, Judge Pape asked me to take a more active role in the court, and thus my appointment as an associate juvenile judge, which carried the requirement that I had to receive training and certification from the Council of Juvenile Court Judges, which I have each year since 2008. When Judge Pape began to discuss his desire to eventually retire, I did indicate my thoughts of succeeding him, which he wholeheartedly encouraged.”

“We are indeed fortunate to have a person of Mr. Price’s qualifications and actual experience as prosecutor, defense attorney, guardian ad litem and an associate judge and judge pro tem in the juvenile court,” said Chief Superior Court Judge Walter Matthews.

Price said he hopes to continue the work that Pape has started in the juvenile court system.

“In the last several years, our Juvenile Court has implemented a new approach to providing probation services for wayward children, which is more holistic,” Price said. “In the past the direction of probation services for juveniles in the state has been to simply, for lack of a better word, throw services at the situation, more like treating the illness symptomatically. Our new approach, which is being refined every day, is to actually try to analyze the actual root cause of the child’s behavior and try to apply probation and other services to affect a lasting resolution to the problem, more like finding a cure.

“I also hope to create a more centralized communication and implementation method between family and youth services providers throughout Northwest Georgia and Floyd County so as to become more efficient and cost productive.”

Price said he hopes to be elected in the 2014 election.

“I can think of no greater calling than to finish my legal career on the bench serving Rome and Floyd County,” Price said.

Pape announced his resignation in July after 30 years of service.