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State gaming commission member to resign Sept. 30

James F. McHugh (speaking) served as acting chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission during deliberations over the Boston-area casino license.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff/File 2014/Globe Staff

James F. McHugh, a retired judge who helped shepherd Massachusetts into its new era of casino gaming, will resign from his position as a state gambling commissioner in the fall, he said Monday.

“I think it is time to pick up my postponed retirement,” he wrote in a note to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission staff posted online, saying he has a great family with whom he wants to spend more time. “Therefore, I met with Attorney General [Maura] Healey, my appointing authority, last Friday afternoon and informed her that my last day of service as a Commissioner will be September 30.”

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McHugh is one of five full-time, paid commissioners — appointed by the governor, attorney general, and treasurer — who are implementing the expansion of gambling in the state.

The 2011 law that created the commission gave it the authority to award up to three regional resort-style casino licenses, as well as one to a slot machine parlor anywhere in the state.

The slot parlor license went to Penn National, which opened Plainridge Park Casino in June. The licenses for Western Massachusetts and the Greater Boston area went to MGM Resorts and to Wynn Resorts, respectively, for casinos in Springfield and Everett. Neither have opened and the Wynn project is entangled in a legal battle.

The final license, for Southeastern Massachusetts, has not yet been awarded.

During the process of awarding the Boston-area license, Mayor Martin J. Walsh of Boston accused McHugh, who was serving as the board’s acting chairman, of bias against the city. Others praised his fairness in casino deliberations.

McHugh was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 1985 and the Massachusetts Appeals Court in 2001, according to the commission’s website. Before becoming a judge, he worked for a law firm in Boston.

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Beginning around 1975, he represented The Boston Globe for about a decade, according to a newspaper profile of him last year.

Healey, a Democrat, thanked McHugh in a statement and wished him well in his retirement.

“Moving forward,” she said, “we will conduct a thorough, deliberative process to select a highly-qualified individual to serve as Judge McHugh’s successor.”


Joshua Miller can be reached at joshua.miller@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jm_bos.