Gov. Scott Walker has appointed Judge Timothy Vocke of Rhinelander to a seat on the state board that oversees elections and ethics.

Vocke, a reserve judge with nearly 40 years experience as a prosecutor and judge, will take a seat on the Government Accountability Board previously held by Judge Gordon Myse.

“Judge Vocke’s deep commitment to upholding the rule of law and years of experience on the bench will make him an excellent addition to the GAB,” Walker said in a statement released by his office.

According to the accountability board's website, Vocke is a former Vilas County Circuit Court judge, and previously served as District Attorney for Vilas County. He also has served on the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s Code of Professional Responsibility Committee. Vocke says he was appointed to the district attorney's post by Gov. Patrick Lucey, a Democrat in 1976, and ran as a Democrat for re-election, before running for the nonpartisan judgeship.

The board, made up of six former judges, is designed to be nonpartisan. Its members are appointed by the governor from nominees selected by a panel of appeals court judges chosen by lot. Other nominees submitted to Walker with Vocke were Judges Charles Dykman of Madison and Denis Luebcke of Appleton.

Though judgeships are nonpartisan, three other member of the board — all appointed by then-Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat — held partisan posts earlier in their careers, two legislators and a district attorney. All three of them were Republicans.

Some Republicans, including state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), have criticized the accountability board in recent weeks, calling it a partisan body after it sought an extra week to consider whether to throw out recall elections against three Democratic state senators. The board did eventually set those elections, and there was no such criticism in Walker's statement about the Vocke appointment.

“The GAB plays an integral role by preserving the integrity and openness of our government and our elections," the statement said, "and I know that Judge Vocke will strengthen the GAB and its mission with his independent voice.”

Myse's term on the board ended in May, said board staff attorney Michael Haas. Vocke's appointment requires confirmation by the state Senate, Haas said, but he'll take his seat at the board's next meeting pending that confirmation.