Chief Judge of the Eighth Judicial District Michael F. Powers sat with the state Supreme Court Monday and heard appeals in five matters on the court’s docket.

The Supreme Court appointed Powers to join them in place of Chief Justice Robert E. Davis who was on medical leave.

Powers is completing his 19th year as a district judge. He has been chief judge of the Eighth Judicial District — which includes Marion, Dickinson, Geary, and Morris counties — since 1994.

He heard oral arguments in two civil cases, two criminal cases, and a driver’s license suspension appeal and participated in the high court deliberations and opinion drafting.

Powers and his wife, Judy, live in Marion. They have five adult children and four grandchildren.