State Supreme Court Justice Marion McNulty retiring

Republican State Supreme Court Justice Marion McNulty will retire from her $167,000-a-year post at the end of September, more than five years before her term is up, a spokesman for Suffolk Administrative Judge C. Randall Hinrichs said Wednesday.

"The judge has advised Judge Hinrichs that she will retire at the end of the September and that it is Judge McNulty's decision," said Marian Tinari, a court spokeswoman. McNulty did not return calls for comment.

McNulty, 62, of Miller Place, was first elected to the Supreme Court in 2005 after serving as a Family Court and acting Supreme Court justice for 17 years. Earlier in her career, she worked as an assistant Suffolk district attorney and an assistant county attorney. Her term as State Supreme Court justice expires on Dec. 31, 2018.

McNulty's retirement will come too late for the political parties to name replacement candidates to run in a special election this November. That means that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, with State Senate confirmation, could appoint an interim judge until the November 2014 election.

Richard Schaffer, Suffolk Democratic chairman, said he has no one in mind to recommend for the opening, but now that the judicial position will become vacant, "I'm sure it will come up in discussions."

County Republican chairman John Jay LaValle did not return calls for comment.