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When word got out about Judge Henry Frye Jr.'s decision to retire Aug. 1, people around the Guilford County courthouse started to get busy.

Opportunities like this don't come up very often.

So Gov. Bev Perdue likely will be receiving letters from several people interested in the appointment to fill out the rest of Frye's term on the Superior Court bench.

The most notable is Patrice Hinnant, who's in her 13th year as a District Court judge. She was re-elected to her fourth term last year, without opposition.

A former president of the Greensboro Bar Association, she should have plenty of local support.

Hinnant would not have run against Frye, whom she's known all her life, she told me Monday. But she'd be happy to walk through the door he's left open.

Hinnant may be the only potential candidate with experience on the bench and a track record of electability. She'd also give the governor a two-fer. If Perdue picked Hinnant, she'd then get to appoint someone else to fill Hinnant's seat on the District Court bench. So there could be some interesting shuffling as the summer rolls along.

There's seldom much movement in Superior Court, where judges serve eight-year terms (compared to four years for District Court judges) and it's rare to have a contested election. Unseating a sitting judge is practically unheard of. Because Frye is only 49, his retirement wasn't expected.

The impending shake-up also provides a chance to look at our Superior Court districts and anticipate a possible change for the better.

Guilford County is Judicial District 18, but it's divided into five parts. Not all are created equal.

Frye holds the seat in District 18A, which consists mostly of east Greensboro and portions of south-central Guilford County reaching to the Randolph County line.

Our other Superior Court judges are John O. Craig in 18B, Stuart Albright in 18C, Lindsay Davis in 18D and Catherine Eagles in 18E.

Each judge must reside within the subdistrict and is elected only by its voters.

In contrast, Guilford County's 14 District Court judges all are elected countywide -- a much tougher assignment politically.

Frye's Superior Court subdistrict was drawn to favor the election of an African American. Most of its registered voters are black.

To allow that ratio, it's a small subdistrict with only 47,427 registered voters, or less than 14 percent of the county's total. If the county were divided equally, 18A would be given a 20 percent share. Albright's District 18C has twice as many voters -- 95,168 -- or nearly 28 percent of the county's total.

A similar circumstance drew a lawsuit in Wake County by plaintiffs who contended, among other things, that the disproportionate districts violate the principle of one man, one vote and thus deny equal treatment. A trial judge ruled in their favor, but the N.C. Court of Appeals reversed. The state Supreme Court accepted the case on review, however, and a final decision could be rendered at any time.

The Court of Appeals ruling struck me as somewhat contradictory. It said on the one hand that judges aren't elected as representatives of the people, so districts don't have to be apportioned equally, but on the other hand judges should represent the racial diversity of the people they serve.

Yet, the racial diversity goal has been achieved in Guilford County District Court, where six of 14 judges elected countywide are black. Furthermore, all appellate judges are elected statewide, not from districts. Superior Court districts are set up under different rules.

The advantage of countywide voting is that it lets every voter hold every judge accountable. Not so for the Superior Court judges, each elected by only a fraction of county voters. Yet, these judges don't hold court only for the residents of their own subdistricts. Their jurisdiction extends throughout the county (and beyond, but that's another issue).

The point is, all Guilford County residents have a stake in the quality of justice dispensed by each of the Superior Court judges. They all should have the opportunity, therefore, to vote for or against each of those judges when he or she comes up for election.

If the Supreme Court throws out the Superior Court district plan in Wake County, perhaps changes in Guilford County will be in order.

Until then, Gov. Perdue has the next move when she picks Frye's replacement. She must choose from within District 18A, which is limiting, but she shouldn't have trouble finding the right judge.