The Virginia General Assembly, nonetheless elected Summers a circuit court judge for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit (which covered several counties in the Kanawha Valley) and he served for six years, replacing slaveholder David McComas and being replaced by him after six years when he resigned and resumed his law practice for the final near decade of his life.
The Virginia General Assembly appointed Summers as a circuit court judge for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit (which included several Kanawha Valley counties), serving for six years. He succeeded slaveholder David McComas and was replaced by him after six years, before resuming his law practice for nearly ten more years of his life.