A former prosecutor in Alabama and Florida has been appointed by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey as a district court judge in Mobile.

Deborah Denise Tillman was appointed to the judgeship effective immediately, according to a press release from Ivey’s office on Friday.

Tillman fills the vacancy left by the resignation of Judge Spiro Cheriogotis, who is now running for mayor of Mobile.

“Deborah Tillman possesses a tremendous background in the law spanning 35 years, beginning with her service as a Staff Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force to subsequent decades of experience in the Mobile County District Attorney’s office,” Ivey stated in the press release. “As a former state, federal and military prosecutor, her legal knowledge will serve the Court and the people of Mobile County well.”

Tillman stated in the press release that she’s “extremely honored, humbled and grateful” to Ivey. “While my role will change in the courtroom, my commitment to the rule of law and to serve the great people of Mobile County with honor and integrity will not. I look forward to joining the distinguished group of Judges who comprise the 13th Judicial Circuit of Mobile County.”

Tillman began her legal career in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of Captain. She was Honorably Discharged in 1995, according to the press release.

She served several several decades in the Mobile District Attorney’s Office as both an assistant and chief district attorney, according to the press release. She also formerly served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Florida. She prosecuted thousands of felony and misdemeanor cases in state and federal courts, according to Ivey’s statement. In her time in the Mobile District Attorney’s Office she prosecuted several homicide cases, according to new archives.

Tillman also has taught criminal law, contracts and civil procedure as an adjunct professor in the paralegal studies division at the University of South Alabama, according to the press release.

Tillman is a Mobile native and 1985 graduate of Spring Hill College. She received her Juris Doctorate from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law in Macon, Georgia in 1989.