PORTLAND - Oregon Supreme Court Justice R. William Riggs will leave his position by the end of this year, potentially clearing the way for Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski to make his second appointment to the state's highest court.

Riggs informed Kulongoski - himself a former Supreme Court justice, and one-time colleague of Riggs - about his decision to step down in a letter Wednesday.

His departure comes as three candidates are vying for a spot on the seven-member court to replace former Chief Justice Wallace Carson, and as a ballot measure is circulating to require appellate justices to be elected by geographic district, instead of on a statewide basis.

“I don't intend to retire in the sense of sitting back and watching Oprah in the afternoon,” said Riggs, 67. “I think that there will be some good opportunities for me in private life.”

Riggs, a Wilsonville resident who received his law degree from the University of Oregon, has served on the court since September 1998, when he was appointed by former Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat. He won re-election to a six-year term in 2004. Prior to that, he served on the Oregon Court of Appeals, and as a Multnomah County circuit court judge. Riggs is also a former president of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association and founded the Oregon Academy of Family Law Practitioners.

He has served during a tumultuous time for the state's highest court, during which the justices have had to weigh in on topics like assisted suicide, medical marijuana and property rights.

Asked to recall landmark opinions during his time on the bench, Riggs cited the unanimous decision he wrote upholding the legislative redistricting plan designed by Democratic Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, which was challenged by the GOP. And he was one of six judges who ruled that a Death Row inmate convicted of raping and murdering a toddler should be set free because the state had failed to provide the inmate with a speedy trial.