Alabama Supreme Court Justice Sarah Stewart announced Tuesday she will be running for the position of Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. The primary will take place in March 2024.

Stewart said one of her goals is to bolster Alabamians’ confidence in the court system.

“I will fiercely safeguard our freedoms enshrined in the Constitution – from the right to praise God freely to the power of state government,” she said in her statement. “Five of the original 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution are about the justice system and, as chief justice, I want Alabamians to be confident in the strength of our courts.”

Stewart was elected to the court in November 2018. In 2006, she was appointed to a circuit judge position in Mobile County by then-Gov. Bob Riley. She has been re-elected three times to the same office without opposition.

Stewart spoke of her conservative ideals, as well.

“I have a proven conservative record, and I understand Alabama values,” she said. “It is important for a Justice to have strongly developed judicial values. My work as a justice speaks for itself – I will never legislate from the bench and I will always strongly defend your constitutional rights.”

She obtained her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the University of Arkansas. In 1992, Stewart received her juris doctorate from Vanderbilt Law School.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.