NEW SCOTLAND — The New Scotland supervisor described the appointment of Robert Johnson as town justice as having a “domino effect.”

By unanimous vote on Wednesday night, the town board named Johnson as one of New Scotland’s two judges; the other is David Wukitsch. Johnson will put on his black robe to preside at the bench, starting on Feb. 1. In the meantime, Wukitch will fill in for both.

Johnson is assuming the post that Margaret Adkins vacated in November to pursue teaching at a university.

Johnson is an attorney at the firm Martin, Shudt, Wallace, DiLorenzo, & Johnson who had been a New Scotland judge in 1991 and 1992; at that time, he completed coursework to serve in the post, Johnson wrote in a letter to Supervisor Douglas LaGrange. In February 2015, he completed training to be designated as a mediator, which Johnson wrote could be put to good use as a town justice.

Johnson had declined an interview with The Enterprise earlier in the week, waiting until the appointment was official. He resigned as chairman of the town’s zoning board to accept the justice post, setting into motion the domino effect LaGrange had referenced.

At Wednesday night’s reorganizational meeting, which preceded the regular board meeting, Johnson was replaced as zoning board chairman by Jeffrey Baker, a lawyer who had counseled the zoning and planning boards. Baker, in turn, was replaced by Crystal Peck.

Peck had been appointed to the planning board last September after the position had been empty for several months. She has been an attorney at the firm Bailey Johnson since 2007 and primarily practices in municipal law, with cases ranging from zoning issues to civil rights. After she and her family moved to New Scotland, she said she became interested in how the community could change when faced with imminent development.

“I’m looking forward to being part of the process and its shaping of the community,” she told The Enterprise shortly after her appointment.

LaGrange said the town will begin the search for a new planning board member soon.

The town had interviewed four of the five applicants for the position of town justice in a meeting open to the public. Johnson, who was out of town when this meeting occurred, was interviewed in separate sessions. He met with town board members William Hennessy and Adam Greenberg at one interview and with board members Patricia Snyder and Laura Ten Eyck at another.

LaGrange said that all five applicants had excellent résumés, but that Johnson had a familiarity with the town from his time on the ZBA.

“The ZBA is really a quasi-judicial board,” he said.