Gov. Maura Healey has appointed a new chair of the state Ethics Commission. Margot Botsford, former associate justice of the state Supreme Judicial Court, has filled the role previously held by Maria J. Krokidas.

According to an ethics commission news release, Botsford was associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court for 18 years and before that an associate justice of the Superior Court. Prior to that, she was assistant attorney general; an assistant district attorney in Middlesex County; and law clerk to Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis J. Quirico. She has also practiced law in the private sector.

She is a magnum cum laude graduate of Barnard College who earned her law degree from Northeastern University and her master's degree in public administration from Harvard University. She is a trustee emerita of Northeastern, previously taught in its law school and has served on the university's governing boards.

Among Botsford’s professional awards and honors are Judicial Excellence Awards from the Massachusetts Conference and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys; the Haskell Cohn Distinguished Judicial Service Award and President's Award from the Boston Bar Association; and the Barnard College Distinguished Alumna Award.

The State Ethics Commission is a non-partisan, independent state agency that administers, provides advice and training concerning, and civilly enforces the conflict of interest and financial disclosure laws. There are five commissioners; three, including the commission chair, are appointed by the governor; one is appointed by the secretary of the commonwealth; and one is appointed by the attorney general. No more than two of the commissioners appointed by the governor, and no more than three commissioners overall, may be from the same political party.

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This announcement was published Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, based on information from Gerry Tuoti, senior public information officer of the state Ethics Commission.