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MINNEAPOLIS 鈥� After eight years on Minnesota鈥檚 highest court, Justice Margaret Chutich said Tuesday that she will retire this summer. Her announcement comes five days after Justice G. Barry Anderson said he will retire in May.

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Chutich to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2016 after she鈥檇 served for several years on the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Chutich, 65, is the first openly gay state supreme court justice in Minnesota. Her last day will be July 31.

鈥淩epresentation is important so that when students see someone like them having success, they will have confidence they can set high goals as well,鈥� Chutich said in a statement released by the Judicial Branch.

Last week, Anderson announced that he鈥檒l step down May 10 after serving since 2004. Anderson, who was named to the seven-member court by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, is the only remaining justice to have been appointed by a Republican governor.

The two departures are part of a sudden makeover of Minnesota鈥檚 highest court. There will be four new justices seated in less than a year, and the chief justice, Natalie Hudson, was moved up to that role just last fall.

DFL Gov. Tim Walz told reporters on Tuesday that he expects to fill both seats by this spring. It means that he will have appointed a majority of the justices on the seven-member court.

鈥淭he continuity and the stability of the Minnesota Supreme Court is probably as strong as any institution in this country,鈥� Walz said. 鈥淚 take a real sense of responsibility of making sure it stays that way."

Minnesota justices are usually appointed by governors and must stand for election every six years. But if a vacancy occurs at the end of a justice鈥檚 term, voters get to fill the seat. The last state supreme court justice to be directly elected was Alan Page in 1992.

So far Walz has appointed two supreme court justices, Gordon Moore III and Karl Procaccini, and elevated a third, Natalie Hudson, to chief justice.